In the era of TikTok virality, it’s easy to scoff at breakout stars that make it big on the app – they appear out of nowhere, are suddenly everywhere and then they’re gone. But every so often, TikTok delivers the goods and unearths artists who are destined for longevity; whose virality is justified and confirmed by their ability to break through beyond the app and into the mainstream arena.
Barcelona-based rapper Bb trickz (born Belize Kazi) falls into this category, having first caught the attention of the app’s users in 2022 when her videos started to gain traction. But when her 2023 debut single ‘Missionsuicida’ – oddly sampling the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit theme song in a way that turns the familiar refrain into a banger – was also a hit on TikTok, it led to the proliferation of the “Spanish Ice Spice” label, which seems to have stuck. Since then, she’s garnered attention for producing tracks and indeed, whole projects, that are extremely short – succeeding in getting her razor-sharp savagery across in often less than two minutes. Her debut EP Trickstar was under 11 minutes, while the follow-up Sadtrickz sat at just over 11 minutes. And now Bb’s latest release continues in this vein, with eight songs that come in at less than 12 minutes in total.
80’z is like a joyously chaotic disco shift at the club, opening with ‘Tipz & Trickz’ which has bouncy, fast-flowing verses that sit atop jangly guitar lines reminiscent of the sounds of West African highlife. It flows into ‘Superchú!’, which features more of Bb’s characteristically drill vibe in its beats and rhythm. The track playfully mixes Bb’s Spanish lyricism with phrases in English to create a kind of Spanglish that both seems nonchalant and uniquely hers. We get this on ‘Not a Pretty Girl’ too, which sees Bb put her spin on Clairo’s 2017 breakout single ‘Pretty Girl’, coupling its laid-back instrumental with her brash delivery, confirming that she’s not one to be trifled with.
The punchy and self-assured feel of the record continues in the next few tracks. ‘Super’ is vibrant with its rumbling bass line and synth drone, while ‘Back in the 80’s’ is a more zen, R&B affair. The skittish ‘Pepa’ thunders along at pace, then ‘I’m Just a Girl’ is sweet and pop-infused with its harmonised hook. Finally, ‘Malvada’ closes the set by returning to the Highlife aura of the opener, Bb’s tongue-in-cheek mumble rap firmly back in place.
If you haven’t heard the name Bb trickz, it’s likely that you’ll have heard her voice if you were in any way immersed in the Charli xcx Brat mania of 2024. Bb jumped on the remix of ‘Club Classics’ with the addition of her lines in Spanish amplifying the track’s energy and audaciousness. Having only been releasing music for a few years now, Bb raps with the confidence of someone that has been embedded in the scene for much longer. 80’z, despite its brevity, feels like a declaration, not necessarily of her arrival, but of her intention to take her Spanish-language rap far beyond the limits of TikTok’s unpredictable algorithm.
