Review: cupcakKe – Dauntless Manifesto

cupcakKe
Dauntless Manifesto
Self-Released
Street: 06.28
cupcakKe = Megan Thee Stallion + Ayesha Erotica

On Dauntless Manifesto, cupcakKe plays to the best of her strengths while presenting new music to the largest audience she’s ever had. Upholding her reputation of inspiring both laughter and ass-shaking, cupcakKe takes us on a sex-positive journey through 16 tracks crammed into 44 minutes.

Stepping onto the scene in 2016 with the release of Cum Cake, cupcakKe represents the first few among a growing faction of artists dropping comedically horny tracks with filthy lyrics. In fact, she wasn’t the only female artist within this niche to drop new music on June 28, with releases from both Megan Thee Stallion and Ayesha Erotica taking place the same day as well. (If you listened to MEGAN, you may have also noticed that cupcakKe wasn’t the only artist to reference Mariah Carey on her opening track). 

With the popularity of streaming platforms, artists now have more permission to be increasingly vulgar, thanks to our newfound freedom from the censorship of public radio. There’s perhaps no artist as brazen as cupcakKe. Listening to Dauntless Manifesto is a lot like watching an increasingly shameful fetish porno in its entirety, at times you continue consuming and enjoying the content in spite of what’s taking place, rather than because of it. 

On the album, cupcakKe seems to have hit her stride by honing the most shameless musings of her perverted persona and leveraging the virality of her fan remixes on TikTok. Presenting some of her most divisive work yet – in what’s likely the most unserious sonic production she’s released to date – cupcakKe samples slurping noises, rhythmic moaning and even an autotuned queef. You can be the judge of whether it’s genius or juvenile, but truly, how many other artists have the musical genius to back their tracks with percussive glottal stops to mimic gagging during fellatio?

A standout track on the album is “Aura,” a Lizzo-coded song that brings to mind a 2019 Azealia Banks, who took heat for her fatphobia while accusing Lizzo for “steal[ing] cupcakKe’s thing.” Banks does have a valid point about the incomparable and raw confidence embodied by cupcakKe, who is criminally underrated by the public. Using a nonchalant and humorous tone to sing about self love, cupcakKe reminds listeners to embrace the disarming confidence that comes from accepting your body at any size: “N***** like bitches with some cellulite… / But ultimately fat or skinny, babygirl / He lookin’ at the aura on you / Who fucking cares about the size you wear.” 

In another lifetime, cupcakKe could’ve taken up writing little nursery rhymes, but on her Dauntless Manifesto, she’s no mother goose. Similar to Melanie Martinez, cupcakKe chooses themes and lyrics that take their inspiration from children’s media, which she puts on tracks with titles like “Dora,” “Little Red Riding Good,” and “Cruella.” On her most-likely-to-go-viral track “Queef,” she sings to the tune of a children’s lullaby we all know: “Twinkle, twinkle, little star / He gon’ make this pussy fart.” I’d also like to imagine that Dr. Seuss would have a fondness for songs on the album like “Connect 4,” which inexplicably feel like something he would’ve written: “One hole, two holes, three holes go / Pussy, ass, mouth, it can get one more / I brought a friend she a nasty hoe / Go get in her throat that’s Connect 4.”

Despite her countless odes to toe-curling coitus, cupcakKe publicly maintains that she is in fact, still a virgin. Her celibacy makes Dauntless Manifesto even more interesting in context. Thirsty quips on the album tracks seemingly mock the deranged ramblings of a person in need of a good fuck – but they’re actually sincere. The album is also very Gen-Z, given the decreasing number of sexually active young adults who are more often celibate than previous generations, but still enjoy a depraved sense of humor. 

Whether you’re somebody who’s been living through a particularly lengthy dry spell, are celibate or sexually active – Dauntless Manifesto will get you in the mood to laugh, while you feel societal taboos around sexuality dissolve. With her fifth album, cupcakKe presents her most thoughtful project. Let’s hope it’s not another six years of waiting before her next one. –Arthur Diaz

Read more national reviews:
Review: Megan Thee Stallion – MEGAN
Review: feeble little horse – Girl with Fish