Artist: Andrea
Title: Southern Belle
Genre(s): R&B, Hip-Hop, Trap, Rap, Pop
Length: 36:30
Writers: A.Mason, C.Hudson, S.Hollywood, B.Khan, P.Rodriguez, YoungHood
Producers: Andrea, Deneil, jamHOT, KREAMY, MakeAScene
Format(s): CD, Digital Download, Streaming, Vinyl
Label: Five Pesky Kids
Singles: Force [#1], Something For The Fire (feat. Billy) [#1], BOOTS [#1], How 'Bout Dat? (feat. Payton) [#1]
BACKGROUND & INFORMATIONSouthern Belle is the second studio album from American singer-songwriter and rapper Andrea. It will be released through Five Pesky Kids in March 2025, over ten years since initial work began on the project. The album was initially set for a 2017 release with multiple pushbacks and newly-scheduled dates, with the last being in 2019 before the project was officially shelved. Andrea scrapped the project and fired her entire management team at the time. Mason has claimed that the sudden release of the once-cancelled album was a "gift to fans" and as a way of "wiping the slate clean" before she releases a brand new studio album later in the year. Primarily an R&B/Pop record,
"Southern Belle" also incorporates elements of hip-hop, trap and dance music. The album is noted for its drastic departure in style from Andrea's debut which was a country-pop affair. The album was executive-produced by Andrea herself.
In mid-2014, Andrea underwent a major overhaul in her style and public persona. Cropping her hair short and dyeing the remainder a bleach blonde was a stark contrast to her then signature auburn waves. Mason also started to advocate for the legalisation of marijuana, voice her opinions on LGBTQ issues, wear provocative outfits and make public statements regarding her sex life. All of this spurred a media frenzy and speculation regarding the directions she was taking as an artist. Mason then divorced Billy Khan and started to align herself with the rapper Payton Rodriguez before eventually going on to form a relationship with him. The media dubbed Andrea as a "good girl gone bad" and praised her "growth" as well as her "newfound confidence" while others dubbed the makeover as "desperate", "embarrassing" and a "glamorous cry for help". Since her change in public persona, Andrea has been criticised for cultural appropriation and has been a divisive figure with many debating her place as a role model.
"Southern Belle" was written and recorded over a four year period. Various incarnations of the album exist and the project, much like Andrea's debut, was notorious for its delays. Andrea aligned herself with many hip-hop and R&B producers from her homeland of Texas to curate the sounds for the project. While many have criticised Mason's decision, Andrea claims that the style is true to her roots;
"Down South, Hip-Hop and Country dominate. They're King and Queen of the airwaves. I grew up listening to both and they have inspired me as an artist. This isn't something I've grabbed out of thin air. This sh*t means something to me." In 2016, after being pushed back, the album took a more introspective style after Andrea found her earlier sessions to be "faceless".
"I found myself saying all sorts just for the sake of being controversial. I was a woman scorned and crazy high all the time. The record was a hot mess. I had to regroup and iron stuff out." Despite further work on the project,
"Southern Belle" had still not surfaced for two years. Andrea continued to work on the project and release demos and snippets via SoundCloud and Instagram but no official releases or dates came to fruition. In 2018, Andrea left Five Pesky Kids to work on the record independently. From there, she picked apart all of the recordings she had amassed over the years and began to map out a new structure for the album and figure out what was truly missing and needed from the project without label interference. Since then, Andrea went on to re-sign to the label under a new contract with the album "95% completed".
The record has been described by Mason as a concept album with her being the Southern Belle in the story. Earlier tracks allude to her "toxic" relationship with Billy and he even features on the record. It then follows with the break-up and the repercussions of it all, documenting the different phases of a departure. From then on, we see themes of self-love, female empowerment and sexuality. The final tracks on the album are very reflective in nature and provide closure, with Andrea giving kiss-offs to her oppressors, entering a new relationship and stepping into her own. The album closes with "Curtains", a track which sums up her public life until this point and how she's ready to close the curtains on this chapter and look ahead to the future.
"Force" was released as the lead single from the project back in 2015. The "disjointed" pop-rap song received mixed reviews at the time but has retrospectively garnered acclaim for its empowering themes and is said to be one of the most important songs in Andrea's career, starting her musical transition. The song debuted at #1 and gave Andrea her second chart topper.
"Something For The Fire" followed as the second single in January 2017. The song features ex-husband Billy and documents their highly publicised "abrasive" relationship. The mid-tempo R&B affair generated critical acclaim and internet buzz with many appreciating the "raw honesty" of the track and the "unexpected" collaboration between the pairing due to their rocky relationship. The single also debuted at #1. It wouldn't be until 2019 that a third single would surface.
"BOOTS", a trap-rap-pop hybrid was surprise released in February 2019 to relaunch the project. The highly sexual track debuted at #1, giving Andrea four consecutive chart toppers and three from the same album. Andrea confirmed that another single will be serviced before the album is officially released. The Payton assisted
"How 'Bout Dat?" was released as the fourth and final single from the project. Like it's predecessors, the song debuted atop the Chart Heat Hot 20 Singles.
COMMENTARYQuote:"This album has equally meant so much to me and has been a real weight on my shoulders for the last ten years. At one point, it was the love my life, my favorite child. I nurtured and guided it, hoping to do it justice and that I could proudly stand by it. That the story shared would be triumphant, vindicating and the proudest moment of my personal and professional lives. Then it mutated. The expectations grew higher than I anticipated; for me, the label, the media, the fans. In trying to make the perfect recipe, I let too many cooks into the kitchen and wound up creating a monster. The media scrutiny, my headspace, the numbers game and the clinical handling of a personal project by my old management team - it all became too much to handle and I found myself jaded. The material became a physical representation of everything that was causing me distress in my life and the last thing I wanted to do was sell it, sing it and pose all cutesy in videos for these damn songs. Touring it for months on end would've been a personal hell, that's for fucking sure!"
"Truth be told, it was horribly mismanaged. The team I had at the time not only did not know what they were doing with such a big music project (although they insisted that they did!), they also saw me as a product as opposed to a human being. Fair enough, that's not an uncommon story in this fucked up industry but when you're being treated like a commodity and cash cow but with no actual product to sell, it's just barbaric. It was the most gruelling and mentally tiring era of my life and the album didn't even come out! People within my own camp where selling stories on me, setting me up with paparazzi ambushes, and, while I hold my hands up and admit my part in the destructive behaviours, where willingly aiding and encouraging my substance abuse. Anything for a headline or content, right?"
"Oh, did I mention that I was juggling all of this as a single mother in her early twenties with a son who had then-undiagnosed ADHD? Yeah, you can imagine just how fried I was."
"I thought that with releasing "Ya-Ya" last year, the first taste of my new project, that that would be the end of the "Southern Belle" saga. While it indicated the beginning of something new, it still wasn't a finite ending for what was lingering before it. "Ya-Ya" went #1 and did what it did but I still had fans constantly asking me; "where's Southern Belle?!", "justice for Southern Belle!", "leak the album, Queen!" and all that. It was the albatross around my neck. I failed to deliver it years ago, never saw through multiple promises, so a lot of it is on me. I understand what it's like to be a fan of someone and being so obsessed with consuming all their content. The idea of a forbidden, unheard, cancelled album? That's like the Holy Grail. Of course fans are going to want it! I don't blame them at all."
"I'm glad that I'm now at a place where I can confidently release this project. While I no longer connect with the material, aside from maybe one or two tracks, I no longer fear it at least. I went through all the notions in regards to this music. I was so proud of it, then felt stressed out by it, loathed it, wanted to bury it, absolutely sickened by the thought of it, to now feeling indifferent and pretty much at peace. The 2010's were a wild, formative time for me but hey, it's 2025 now. I'm in my 30's. Though, I feel like in order to truly move on, I have to release this (literally and metaphorically) into the world. Truly wipe the slate clean for what is to come."
"So, here we are. Southern Belle seeing the light of day. This album is for the fans and that tortured twenty-something girl who was trying to figure out the meaning of life with the whole world watching. This is for you, diva. Be free!"
- Andrea
