Finesse Records vedette Girl Ultra has been working on her debut EP for awhile, workshopping tracks in the Mexican label’s collaborative style ever since the lounge-ready slow burn “U Betta” dropped in early 2016 with Finesse-affiliated producer Wet Baes. Finally, she’s given birth to “Cruel,” produced by label founder Teen Flirt. It’s the first song and video to be released from her upcoming EP Boys.
True to the album’s title, the lyrics on “Cruel” call up a special kind of lingering, manchild-inspired heartache. That moment when you’re 90 percent sure you’re done with your not-quite-ex baboso, the dude who can’t stop treating your feelings like the knobs on his Midi controller? Girl Ultra has made you a new anthem for that moment, led by a voice that seems bigger and more effortless than the vocalist’s 21 years would imply possible. A laid-back, elegant video directed by Ricardo Ríos showcases Girl’s luxe 2017 tomboy looks — she sports rhinestone hoops and a camouflage sweatshirt underneath a fur shrug to drink champagne in her house and lecture her computer screen. Very relatable.
Check for the rest of Boys to go public in February, which will give GU plenty of time to prep her set for a March appearance in this year’s Festival Nrmal in Mexico City alongside her Finesse labelmate Jessé Baez. If it’s as slick as the teaser, no doubt she’ll also be taking advantage of the moment to rise in the ranks of Mexico’s top R&B contenders.