EP Review: Flo - The Lead

Flo’s debut EP The Lead arrived right on time. A perfect single-bitch-for-the-summer anecdote. Comprised of songs about packing up your man’s shit in a box to the left. Men refusing to be adults in relationships. Getting those good vacation box braids that can survive the pool, and then flying off to the Dominican Republic. Meeting a dude for no long ting, and taking the lead because he really don’t know what to do wid dat thang.

But aside from The Lead being summer relevant, the UK has really needed a new girl group for a minute. Shit. The game in general has needed a new non K-pop girl group. And with The Lead, Flo may have just stepped into the arena as said group.

Quite honestly, Flo might be one of the most interesting and coolest girl groups to come out of the UK in quite some time. So many girl groups have come along over the course of DECADES, and tried to be this mix of what Flo are but just haven’t gotten it right. What I’m about to say may be controversial, but I’d even say that Little Mix didn’t really manage to get it right. ‘LM being one of the most successful selling girl groups says otherwise’ will be a response to this, and a valid one. But in terms of a package, Little Mix was always odd to me. Something about them always felt forced. They had good singles, but their albums were always directionless, and a case of just slinging things at a wall to see what sticks. But what really made it hard for me to click with Little Mix, was that they were in this weird space musically and visually, of being a UK girl group trying to look and sound like a US girl group. Where-as with Flo, right out of the gate; the group look clicks. The sound clicks. I get Flo’s identity right off the bat. It was as clear as day with their debut song “Cardboard Box” alone. But it’s crystal clear with their EP. With Flo, I can see the vision. With Spice Girls, I could see the vision. With the Sugababes, I could see the vision. With Little Mix, I couldn’t see it. But good for them though. They still did what they did. And now Flo’s about to *Cue’s Chloe x Halle sound bite* do it.

The nice thing about Flo is that there is no lead singer, because all three girls can actually sing. One of my pet peeves with groups is when they have members who just do not sing. Not even to contribute to the backing vocals. Like…how are you, as a record label or a producer, gonna gave bodies in the group and just not use their voices to contribute to a backing vocal or a harmony? They ain’t even gotta be that good of a singer, or a singer at all. It irks me. Especially with groups which have dozens of members (like Girls’ Generation), yet you can only hear 4 voices on a song. But with Flo, every member gets their moment, and we actually get harmonies. When Flo put out a song, it’s Flo on the song. It’s Jorja, Stella and Renée. It’s the F, the L and the motherfuckin’ O singing on every one of those songs. I respect it. And I can hear it.

Flo feels like a cool, but effortless mix of some of the biggest and best girl groups of the past 2 decade. They have the poise of Destiny’s Child. The unfiltered outspokenness (well Jorja at least) of TLC. The brashness of the Spice Girls. The London, round the way vibes of the Sugababes. But despite the melting pot of girl groups that Flo is, they still have an identity which is their own, and this filters into the music too.

Flo’s sound is late 90s / early 2000s R&B. Every single song on The Lead sounds like what was playing on urban radio and MTV during the early 2000s. But it’s not in the hyper kitsch ‘Look at me! I’m doing the Y2K shit!’ manner, that we’ve seen a whole bunch of the white girls do. Because here’s something about that whole Y2K aesthetic. *Beckons reader closer* Despite white people being the most prominent folk to be seen running with it, Black people are at the heart of it. But that’s a whole other discussion.

If you remember what R&B sounded like during the early 2000s, then you will immediately be cast back to that time period, and feel nostalgic when listening to songs on The Lead. But if not, then you will just appreciate how good the music is. Because quite frankly, the sound of the late 90s / early 2000s has never really left radio or the charts, the same way that disco never has.

Really sitting in the sonics of the late 90s / early 2000s was clearly a deliberate and stylistic choice for Flo, and it’s a smart one. Not only was the early 2000s a great time for girl groups, but it was a great time in music when anything was game. Pop, rock, R&B, Hip-Hop, whatever genre warbling bitches like Enya fell into - everything had a shot at charting in the top 10. There was no genre favouritism. And within R&B, there were no rules. There wasn’t a trend in the genre that everybody was chasing in order to catch a hit. So there was a breadth of sounds in R&B. There was a space for everyone. And whilst the sound of this time is identifiable to those that know it, none of it feels shamefully date stamped. And there are many songs from this period which still sound fresh to this day and can sit alongside any music release of the past decade. Especially with music pulling from so many eras now anyway, and everything that was old now being new.

Producer MNEK knows his references and throws in little moments, almost like Easter eggs for those who really know the era that The Lead is pulling from. Some may hear the sound of a baby crying on the song “Immature” and think what the fuck is this!? But those who know their shit, will know that it’s a reference to Aaliyah’s 1998 chart smash “Are You That Somebody?”, which famously featured the sound of a baby giggling as part of the music. And this particular sonic quirk is something that many songs and producers have copied / referenced since. Mariah Carey’s “H.A.T.E.U” released over 10 years later to name one. Again, showing how timeless and influential music from the late 90s / early 2000s was.

When I first heard “Cardboard Box” I was really hoping that MNEK would have a constant presence in Flo’s music, because he helped set such a tone for the group with this song. “Cardboard Box” wasn’t just a perfect introduction to the group, but it had a sound and vibe which made me think of all of the different directions in which Flo could go, whilst still staying within the sphere of this sound. So I was glad to see that MNEK was involved in almost all of the songs on this EP, and as an executive producer, and you can hear it.

Let’s talk about MNEK for a minute. Because I really do think Flo’s success will be intrinsic to his own, and that his work with this group could change the trajectory of his career.

One thing about MNEK, is that you can tell that he loves the girl groups and divas of the 90s. He’ll sometimes buss open Merriam Webster and give us a four syllable word in a place in a song which sounds so damn strange and unconventional…unless you’re a lamb. In which case it just makes sense. He’ll use vocal stylings and arrangements in a similar fashion to those of which Missy Elliott would use on records with Nicole Wray, 702 or SWV. He makes production choices that hearken back to the likes of Rodney Jerkins and Timbaland. He studies. And he channels all of this into Flo’s music to help give them a musical identity which manages to feel familiar, but still fresh. A sound that feels referential, but still very Flo, yet also very MNEK.

MNEK uses Flo almost like a vessel to do all of the things musically that maybe he didn’t feel he could do on his own material. Or things that just didn’t land the same way when he did them for himself. The same goes for Kabba (formerly known as A*M*E), a singer, and MNEK’s partner in crime; who co-wrote 3 of the songs on The Lead.

I don’t think MNEK or Kabba are destined to be big solo pop stars. I truly do think that their callings are to be prominent pens in UK pop music. A pop go to as Xenomania once were, and as Biffo still are. For Kabba to be a Kandi Burruss to MNEK’s She’kspere. A Missy to his Timbaland. A LaShawn to his Rodney. And these are all production teams and partnerships which are not only iconic and historic, but ones MNEK seems very aware of. And it’s been a minute since we’ve had something like any of these teams since. In this day and age, songs pass across so many producers, everybody does writing camps, and albums are made up of tens of twenties of songwriters and producers. There’s not always a sense of a small team of creators who are able to shape the sound of an album and really help develop an act. But on The Lead, MNEK is bringing that back, along with Kabba and producer Jamal Woon.

Based on The Lead, I really do hope that MNEK and Kabba have a similar level of involvement on Flo’s debut album. Because based on the attention that Flo are getting and that MNEK’s signature sound is prominent on The Lead in a way that it hasn’t been on many of his other productions; I think Flo, MNEK and Kabba could have a One in a Million or a Never Say Never type career moment, which really takes their careers to the next level. The potential definitely is there.

Flo | The Lead

But for how good songs on The Lead are, and the quality that everybody involved brings to the table, the EP has me really torn. I appreciate that they managed to release it so quickly after their debut single. A single of which wasn’t even remotely a hit. Especially at this point in music where record labels like to sit on albums and not entertain EP’s. Especially when the singles did nothing on the charts. (Shout-outs to Normani and Chloe Bailey). But I also feel that The Lead could have been packaged better to make it feel more like a body of work. The Lead feels like 5 songs plucked off of an album. But it also features songs which adhere to the no-longer-than-3-minutes trend which is plaguing music right now because of streaming. I’ll let “Cardboard Box” and “Immature” slide, because they still manage to feel like whole songs. But “Summertime”? Unacceptable. Best damn song on the EP, and the bitch just ends after 2 verses whilst I’m in the middle of a slow whine? Uzo, sweetie. Where was the middle-8? Where was the bridge? If “Summertime” ends up on Flo’s debut album, it’s absolutely going to need to be an extended version.

In terms of having me anticipating a studio album, The Lead does the trick. But I really would have liked The Lead to feel a little more whole, and less of a sum of a bigger part. And we can blame Rina Sawayama for me coming down on The Lead for this, because her EP was what really shifted my expectations for EP’s. Rina and producer Clarence Clarity pushed the boundaries of what an EP should be; creating a body of work, and applying a level of detail to an EP that most don’t even give an LP. It was so full and so whole, that sometimes I even forgot the damn thing is an EP. It felt like a complete package. There were no loose ends with it. It had a through line. It had a beginning, a middle and an end. And up until it came along, I’d never heard an EP which was approached like an album before. Rina definitely set the bar and a standard for EP’s that everybody should be taken better note of. And I wish Flo’s The Lead had followed suit. But this doesn’t take away from how good the songs on the EP are. Every song on The Lead has single potential, and each song is different enough that there’s going to be something for everyone who is into the sound.

When “Cardboard Box” first released, I knew from one listen and one look at the music video that Flo had the potential to go the distance and be the girl group that pop / R&B needed. They have JUST the right blend of sounding like a London based, round-the-way girl group, with a sound that can carry across the US, and every market. It wouldn’t surprise me if K-pop fans ended up getting into Flo, because their package and concept is so airtight out of the gate, and K-pop fans live for a group that is well packaged.

The vision for Flo is very clear with The Lead, but not to a point where it feels (cardboard) boxed. Flo’s debut album could be 12 tracks of what we get on The Lead, and it would be cool. But it could also see Flo’s sound being pulled and expanded, which would also be cool. What The Lead does is provide a solid foundation for Flo, whilst also honouring the talents of the girls and their team of writers and producers, in that they could in fact do anything. The Lead is good. But as a prospect of what Flo could deliver next, it’s even better.

Verdict: The Barbz just gon’ hate it

Highlights:
▪ Cardboard Box 🔥
▪ Immature
▪ Summertime 🏆

▪ Feature Me 🔥