''Ephorize'' is the third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American rapper

Cupcakke Elizabeth Eden Harris (born May 31, 1997), known professionally as Cupcakke (often stylized as CupcakKe; pronounced ), is an American rapper from Chicago, Illinois. She is known for her hypersexualised, brazen, and often comical persona and mus ...

. It was self-released on January 5, 2018 via

TuneCore TuneCore is a Brooklyn, New York–based independent digital music distribution, publishing and licensing service founded in 2005. TuneCore principally offers musicians and other rights-holders the opportunity to distribute and sell or stream the ...

, after being announced on her official

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. The Ephorize Tour was later announced to promote the album and began on February 21, 2018.

Background

On December 20, 2017, Cupcakke revealed the title and cover art of the album through Twitter. The track listing was announced on December 27, 2017, via her Twitter account. On December 29, 2017, Cupcakke announced the album pre-order on Twitter.

Composition

''Pitchfork'' believed ''Ephorize''s themes to be "self-esteem,

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

issues, and the desire for genuine romance" and compared Cupcakke's "absurdist one-liners" to

Ghostface Killah Dennis Coles (born May 9, 1970), better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and a member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of ''Enter the Wu-Tang (36 C ...

. ''

HotNewHipHop ''HotNewHipHop (HNHH)'' is an online publication that covers daily news about hip hop and pop culture, including streetwear, sports, and sneakers. In addition to its editorial content, HotNewHipHop also produces the video serieses; ''How to Roll ...

'' believed the album to be "one of the most introspective bodies of work she's dropped off to date". ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' described the album's production as a mix of "

old-school hip-hop Old-school hip hop (also spelled old skool) is the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music and original style of the genre. It typically refers to the music created around 1979 to 1983, as well as any hip hop that does not adhere to contem ...

, futuristic pop and .

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

". Bijan Stephen from ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

'' commented that "in nearly every song, you can hear shades of

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

drill A drill is a tool used for making round holes or driving fasteners. It is fitted with a bit, either a drill or driverchuck. Hand-operated types are dramatically decreasing in popularity and cordless battery-powered ones proliferating due to ...

bounce Bounce or The Bounce may refer to: * Deflection (physics), the event where an object Collision, collides with and bounces against a plane surface Books * Mr. Bounce, a character from the Mr. Men series of children's books Broadcasting, film and ...

, and

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ), also known as reggaetón and reguetón (), is a music style that originated in Panama during the late 1980s. It was later popularized in Puerto Rico. It has evolved from dancehall and has been influenced by American Hip hop m ...

, with Harris's voice making the whole thing hang together." "

Duck Duck Goose Duck, Duck, Goose (also called Duck, Duck, Gray Duck or Daisy in the Dell or Quail, Quail, Quarry sometimes in New Jersey and New England) is a traditional children's game often first learned in preschool or kindergarten. The game may be later a ...

" has been described as a

sex rap Dirty rap (also known as porno rap, porn rap, sex rap, booty rap, or pornocore) is a subgenre of hip hop music that contains lyrical content revolving mainly around sexually explicit subjects. The lyrics are often overtly explicit and graphic ...

song that "flirts with

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

bounce". "Total" was described as " mbracingthe muted

dembow Dembow is a Dominican musical genre that can be traced to a riddim that originated in Jamaican dancehall. When Shabba Ranks released "Dem Bow" in 1990, it did not take long for the dembow genre to form. Riddims were built from the song and th ...

pop varietal known as

tropical house Tropical house, also known as trop house, is a subgenre of house music, and a derivation of tropical music, with elements of dancehall and Balearic house. Artists of the genre are often featured at various summer festivals such as Tomorrowland. T ...

". The

synth A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

lines in "Navel" were likened to the synth flutes used in "

Mask Off A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practi ...

". "

Crayons A crayon (or wax pastel) is a stick of pigmented wax used for writing or drawing. Wax crayons differ from pastels, in which the pigment is mixed with a dry binder such as gum arabic, and from oil pastels, where the binder is a mixture of wax a ...

", which has been dubbed a " pro-LGBTQ anthem", features reggaeton

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, and lyrics "in praise of the

queer community The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and soci ...

". "Meet and Greet" and "Wisdom Teeth" are drill songs "with added gloss". Lyrically, "

Cartoons A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

" has been described as " lippingchildren's icons into totems for not taking shit". "Self Interview" depicts "the external expectations put on women as they transition from childhood to adulthood", particularly through the line "Back then we had lipgloss and some overalls, that's the usual/Nowadays I gotta show skin and wear sew-ins to feel beautiful". '' The Red & Black'' described "

Fullest ''Fullest'' is the fourth single by independent American rapper Cupcakke from her third studio album Ephorize. Background The song was first released on January 5, 2018 on her album. The rapper announced via Instagram that if her post received 5 ...

" as "a fun, fast-paced song that takes certain elements common to Latin music and incorporates them into the track."

Promotion

Singles

Exit Exit(s) may refer to: Architecture and engineering * Door * Portal (architecture), an opening in the walls of a structure * Emergency exit * Overwing exit, a type of emergency exit on an airplane * Exit ramp, a feature of a road interchange ...

" was released as the first single off the album as a digital download on September 15, 2017. "Cartoons" was released as the second single on November 10, 2017.

Music videos

"Exit" received a music video on October 13, 2017. "Cartoons" received a music video on November 18, 2017. "Duck Duck Goose" received a music video on January 15, 2018. According to Michelle Kim of ''Pitchfork'', the "NSFW" video features "a bunch of

dildos A dildo is a sex toy, often explicitly phallic in appearance, intended for sexual penetration or other sexual activity during masturbation or with sex partners. Dildos can be made from a number of materials and shaped like an erect human penis ...

" and Cupcakke dressed in a duck onesie. "Fullest" received a music video on February 20, 2018. ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is o ...

'' wrote that "the 'Fullest' visual shows what really goes down when CupcakKe throws a house party— and what happens to sloppy uninvited guests." "Crayons" received a video on Sunday March 25, 2018. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' added, "the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

rapper and a group of strangers rally to defend a

gay couple A same-sex relationship is a Romance (love), romantic or Human sexuality, sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil ...

who are harassed on the sidewalk. Their union turns into a street party, with the emcee proudly flying a

rainbow flag A rainbow flag is a multicolored flag consisting of the colors of the rainbow. The designs differ, but many of the colors are based on the spectral colors of the visible light spectrum. The LGBT flag introduced in 1978 is the most recognized u ...

Tour

A concert tour was announced via Harris's Twitter page in order to promote the album. The Ephorize Tour started February 21, 2018 in Chicago,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and originally ended March 15, 2018 in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, but had a Pawtucket show postponed to April 20, 2018. This was Harris's first tour with shows in Europe.

Critical reception

The album received universal acclaim from music critics, with several music sites praising its evolution from Harris's previous projects.

MTV UK MTV is a British pay television channel focusing on reality TV and music programming operated by Paramount Networks UK & Australia. The channel launched as part of MTV Networks Europe localisation strategy in 1997. MTV UK (previously MTV UK & I ...

described it as "further proof that she's one of the most versatile, quick-witted and consistent rappers in the game." ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' stated that "the latest offering hears Cupcakke presenting her most polished work to date, though she still slides in plenty of deliciously dirty one-liners throughout the new record." ''HotNewHipHop'' noted "cupcakKe's attitude is one of the many stand-out attributes in her music. While the raunchiness in her music has been a quality that she's known for, she still touches on more serious topics at the same time. ''Ephorize'' might be one of the most introspective bodies of work she's dropped off to date." ''Pitchfork'' awarded the album with the publication's "Best New Music" accolade, calling it Cupcakke's "best album yet, with terrific production and a barrage of raps that reveal Elizabeth Harris to be far more than her hilarious and absurdly raunchy one-liners". Writing for ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

'', Craig Jenkins noted that "''Ephorize''’s introspective moments give it depth to match its more colorful material's brusqueness and vulgarity." He also stated that "at her best, CupcakKe is a semi-automatic fully loaded with ridiculous puns." Veteran music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

wrote of the album in his column for ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...

'': "It would be silly to assume all this homeless-shelter graduate's literotica is literal. But from the armpit-licking 'Spoiled Milk Titties' to the dickhead-picking 'Duck Duck Goose', believe she's gotten closer to real-life versions of the carnal variations she dreams up than the average Soundcloud trapper has to the carnage he's mumbling about."

Accolades

Track listing

Adapted from

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

and BMI.* * All tracks were produced by Def Stars, except where noted.

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2018 albums Cupcakke albums Self-released albums