Let’s discuss the Bad Bitch archetype, shall we?
The Bad Bitch, by definition, always look right by her own standards, makes her own money, always look right by her own standards, always makes her way around a world late to welcome her, and is an unbreakable force. When Bad Bitches walk into a room, reactions arise from jealousy to admiration. All of this comes from a woman who has had to reach a point in her life where for her to thrive, she has to lose her ability to give a fuck. Many artists have taken the Bad Bitch route to whatever extremes they choose, but how many artists do you know—besides, I don’t know, Charli XCX, maybe?—are willing to explore, embody, dissect, and repurpose the Bad Bitch archetype?
Dig this idea, if you will: the single version of Richmond pop singer WaBeya’s most recent single, “CNTY,” is a warning, a celebration, and an emergence all at the same time. It’s a glittery pop song that blinds you before you notice such light is reflected off diamond fangs. It’s what happens when you discover your power and dance within it. But before this, WaBeya introduced two singles suggesting it was a process getting to this point: “Innerunion” and “Performance.”
The lo-fi digital trip-hop standalone “Innerunion” is about finding confidence in oneself, while the colossal space-pop soliloquy “Performance” is about people-pleasing and trying to match some outside ideas of perfection. Although not incredibly necessary to understand the larger project, the two songs provide some backstory about what she went through to arrive at this moment. Lyrically, these are Wabeya overcoming anxieties and outside demands of who she is. So, it makes sense that Enantiodromia, a sparkly dance-pop album named after the term philosopher Carl Jung introduced for an “unconscious opposite developed out of the sake of psychological protection,” begins with her both cowering in fear and facing her she lovingly names BBLOMEGA.
In the opening “Intro,” said character asks, “What exactly are you hiding from yourself?” Loud screams and deep guttural laughter pepper the intro before breaking into the crackling track that introduces her “BBLOMEGA” alter-ego. Marching drums, light synths, and heavy bass create a bespoke entrance theme song for her. On Enantiodromia, BBLOMEGA is a dancing machine, a flirt, and a cold-hearted vixen who gets what she wants. If she wants a moment to herself on the dance floor, who is anyone to stop her?
To Wabeya, BBLOMEGA is the most seductive side of her id. This idea is best hinted at in her cover of Black Eyed Peas “My Humps,” which finds her performing the salacious lyrics over an instrumental of “Performance.” If “Performance” is about trying to please people by embodying the Bad Bitch role and “My Humps” is about taking advantage of such attention, regardless of whether or not it is what you asked for, this decision of incorporating the lyrics are there to serve the archetype.
However, even WeBeya knows that fulfilling the fantasy can cost too much. The more introspective “Dawn That Comes” breaks down the dream by asking questions about her motivation to keep it going, whether or not this alter ego can be kept up, and if so, for how long. After all, the danger of surrendering to that id is losing yourself. “When I grow more wrinkles and get sick and gray, will they still see the value in this life? / Cause I’ve seen some human hearts shut off in a day, and I fear that I too could be left behind,” WaBeya sighs over contemplative airy organs and sputtering drums. Everything from age to a lifetime of anger to even mentions of Darwinism—how often does he come up in pop music, huh?—gets talked about on “Dawn that Comes,” where WaBeya attempts to manage BBLOMEGA better.
So, what does that mean for the disco-pop single and album closer “Cnty”? The song can always be seen as a manifestation or a repurposing of BBLOMEGA. What was once portrayed as a cold-hearted villain archetype turns into a persona made with the intent to eschew outside expectations and embrace personal freedom. After all, in this track, she coos that she’s “been feelin feral,” and softly, she asks one of the most cutting questions: “If it’s feelin right for me, why would I turn some other way?” This, before uplifting whistle tones and swelling synths, closes the song and Enantiodromia. No more need for rage, no more fear. If BBLOMEGA is free, so is WaBeya.
It can feel reductive to say Enantiodromia is the sound of Wabeya thematically embracing her inner Brat, yet it is indeed one willing to do more than embrace being a Bad Bitch, diving deepinto the overall psychology. Plenty of albums have attempted to help split the difference between the artist and their alter-ego, but Enantiodromia feels like a real time study of how the Bad Bitch comes to be and perhaps what it would have been. Brevity aside, Enantiodromia accomplishes a lot in 19 minutes, encouraging you to embrace the Bad Bitch in you, question it, and dance with it.
