Many knew Anna Wise as one-half of the duo Sonnymoon, as the siren who provides the Yin to Dane Orr's Yang. However, her celebrity kicked up a notch once she became Kendrick Lamar's go-to vocalist, lending her ethereal vibes to his projects Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City, To Pimp a Butterfly, and untitled unmastered. If Anna Wise had any perfect moment to step forward to her podium, then that time is certainly now.
She arrives armed with a message that many if not most have trouble effectively communicating. In 2014 a video circulated of a woman walking the streets of New York City amidst a diverse array of male cat calls. The video introduced a dichotomy that manifested itself in every Facebook comment section. Half of the viewers were offended (though many women were also unsurprised) and the other half rolled their eyes. The mixed reaction to that very video is exactly what Wise is speaking to on her EP. The project opens with a snippet of a dissertation on the feminine, and its need to be understood clearly. It pours into the delicate "Precious Possession," which at first listen channels all the romantic vibes of early Erykah Badu, but placed within the context of the project could arguably be completely sardonic. "I wanna be your princess," Wise gently coos. "Will you call me your girlfriend?" That's not to say women should exist as stoic figures shrugging at the sight of flowers; she's simply displaying the layers of the feminine psyche, which at times can be self-minimizing in the presence of love.
An interlude "How Would You Call a Dog?" reflects on the dual catcalling of both types of "bitches," as Wise snatches the derogations for "BitchSlut," a laundry list of absurd ways women are called both terms. It's empowering, but this topic has been talked into mastication. Still, when Wise cites reasons for being a "bitchslut," including "Cause your hair's long/ Cause you shaved it off," there's a tongue-in-cheek air of brilliance. "Decrease My Waist, Increase My Wage" is laid out similarly to a song by a group like the Coup, where the important lyrics are woven so tightly into a basic-sounding song that the stop-and-listen effect solicits an inevitable "Oh shit."
Any reference to women on anything is oftentimes an abrasive subject to broach, especially at a time when many are just learning to embrace the word "feminist." What Anna Wise attempts with The Feminine: Act I is to serve this realness with a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down. While it's still a jagged little pill to swallow—and the proof is in the EP's parts that traipse into cornier territory—Wise does present a degree of transparency that many attempt but wind up losing half their audience in the process. This isn't simply a project to make women nod and smirk; it's a work to hand over to men who assume every aspect of a woman's life is a gift with no curses.
