“I am the Hotline, It’s nice to meet you / I had to reintroduce myself.”
Really, it’s surprising that after all the work she put in, Cincinnati rapper and producer Chloe Hotline has to do it at all. Ever since her 2020 breakout tape CYNTHIA, a melodic rap project that explores her feelings of being trans and everything that comes with it, Chloe has worked tirelessly from dropping multiple mixtapes, songs, and even homemade music videos as a means to spread her name around. She has gotten as far as being able to collaborate with other trans artists such as Toronto’s Girls Rituals (“Future Reference”), Texas’ CENSORED Dialogue (producing a few songs on Afro-Pessimist, underneath the name Najilah Briggs), and New Jersey’s Titmouse (I Lost the Car-Keys Vol. 1). She even worked with Americana pop sensation Ethel Cain and received a shoutout from Elite Gymnastics/Default Genders’ own Jaime Brooks, with whom Chloe also teamed up with in the past.
It’s safe to say that Chloe is the belle of the ball within the trans music community. The thing is she isn’t interested in being another niche artist. Chloe wants to be your next pop superstar, be it through singing or through producing. While plotting out domination, Chloe’s Soulja Rags & C2W Tags—her 6th mixtape and 13th overall project—is meant to tide you over until the new album, Pony Keg, releases. It might also be a tape to help demonstrate what she can do.
Soulja Rags & C2W Tags finds Chloe continuing to explore different genre styles and blending them with a distinctly hip-hop-flavored style. The first song, “I’m the Hotline, and I’m F#ckin Back Baby,” opens up with a swing that reminds you of neo-soul with a confident strut but penetrated with synths reminiscent of G-funk and West Coast rap. “Transnational Rollercoaster” boasts the chrome sheen of 80s synthpop, “Four tha Praise” blends the slow groove of cinematic funk a la Isaac Hayes with the stroll of 2000s-era trap, and even “Ridgeland Bounce” boasts a little nod to Zhane’s 90s hit, “Hey Mr. DJ”, over some Southern-style trap beats.
As far as what she talks about, Chloe continues to lock eyes on her detractors. Over live drums, “Alive (Reprise)” finds herself laughing at those who plan to box her in because of her being trans. “Shoutout to the queens, but I’m not drag racin’,” Chloe says after also bemoaning people’s denial of her craft (“I’m the goat already, but nobody gon’ say it”). But if even the title of the song “Oh, So Y’all Like Girls W Deep Voices Now? (Drench Flow)” is any indication at all, it’s that Chloe isn’t as worried as long as she can see the future—not just for herself, but for those like her trying to tackle the same industry. “Look at us fulfilling all our prophecies / and I sit back and laugh ’cause I got dimes with me,” Chloe smirks on said track.
Soulja Rags and C2W Tags only holds a small collection of what she can do as a singer, a rapper and a producer in genres like hip hop, pop and R&B, and it’s a hell of a starting point for those new to the name of Chloe Hotline (soon to be called Drenchway Big Chloe). Time will tell on whether or not Chloe will truly break out past the tight knit trans music scene, but for now, nobody can go wrong in starting their journey with this tape.
