We’re only just starting spring, but Flo Milli is ready to take the summer with her latest album, Fine Ho, Stay. The Alabama native (whose real name is Tamia Monique Carter) has already become one of the most exciting new voices in hip-hop, building a growing fanbase by delivering cut-throat lyrics while maintaining a graceful and fashionable persona. Fine Ho, Stay serves as the final — and arguably the best — album in a trilogy of LPs that started in 2020 with Ho, Why Is You Here? (which featured the breakout song “Beef (Flo Mix)”) and continued with 2022’s You Still Here, Ho?
In comparison to her two previous albums, Fine Ho, Stay seems to be her rawest yet, never breaking its self-assured lyrical stride while exploring themes of romantic vulnerability; it’s a refreshing change of pace from Milli’s usual “Fuck you, pay me” bars. Like her past projects, the production on Fine Ho, Stay (from Tasha Catour and Da Honorable C.N.O.T.E.) is electric, filling callbacks to Nineties classics with modern approaches while touching on different hip-hop sounds from all around the U.S.
During Flo Milli’s rise there has often been just as much discussion of her physical appearance as her music. As she recently told Rolling Stone’s Andre Gee, “They want me to be insecure about my skin tone, which is never going to happen. I want people to understand everybody does not hate themselves. I think I’m a bad bitch, and there’s nothing you could say that’s going to make me think otherwise.” This album makes it clear that as fas as creativity goes, she’s ready to shut down that demeaning conversation for good.
The first two minutes of Fine Ho, Stay set the tone for the remaining 30. The chopped-and-screwed beat that serves as the introduction to “Understand” feels like an ode to Houston’s rap scene, which is fitting given Flo Milli’s deep Southern roots. Flo Milli starts off popping her shit, opening with: “Four words I live by: Fuck you, pay me.” The song is prime Flo Milli flow and lyricism, with her confidence bouncing off each syllable as she describes her dealings with a man: “He got some heart, but I’m breakin it/Look at that nigga pourin’ it out.”
From start to finish, there are hardly any skips, each song segueing perfectly into the next. “New Me” sees her exercising her wit, rhyming “Bruce Lee” with “loose leaf,” leading to a chorus that sounds like a pro-sex affirmation, “Say he fucked the old bitch/This a new me.” “Got the Juice” and the Monaleo-featuring, Juicy J-produced “Neva” are classic car-ride bumps. “Never Lose Me,” the popular 2023 single that hit the Billboard 100 charts in December, can be heard in its original form and in a remixed version, featuring (some unclear words) from SZA and Cardi B. “Can’t Stay Mad” is a pop girly-love bop, with a beat that seems to call back to Soul for Real’s sugary 1995 R&B hit “Candy Rain, displaying a softer side to Flo Milli, while also showcasing her vocal range. “When you love me like that/The best I ever had/You take me out my attitude/I cannot stay mad at you,” she sings on the chorus, followed by lyrics of devotion that still manage to strike like a punch. “Lay Up” is another smooth romantic joint, where she croons for her lover to pull up on her. “Edible,” featuring Gunna, mixes a psychedelic sound and a sexy-time feel, with guitar and keyboard chords that bounce off each other as if they are in a synchronized dance. “Clap Sum” is a banger that makes you want to twerk at a happy hour underneath some good sunshine. Even on an album that features the different personalities and moods of Flo Milli, “Tell Me What You Want” stands out, exploring a new era, crossing genres toward an electric, dance style tailor made for house-music fiends.
It’s hard not to smile at the growth of Flo Milli, who started rapping at age 11. By taking her music to new levels and giving us lyrics that can work as Instagram captions or daily affirmations, she’s pushing her audience too. If you didn’t believe it in 2020, you will now: Flo Milli has what it takes to go all the way.
Iommi and Ozzy Osbourne, 2016.Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Maria-Juliana Rojas for Rolling Stone