KenTheMan is that girl and has always been that girl. With natural talent, stage presence, experience, and lyricism all on lock, she hangs with the big dogs in the rap game. Since her 2016 debut mixtape, Kenny’s Back, she’s taking over the industry one song at a time, though not without bringing her own energy to it. In every verse, every punchline, every hook, there’s one thing she’s never short on: confidence.
Along the way, she’s created her own space in a genre that quite often expects women to play nice. With that in mind, REVOLT revisited a few of her most unapologetic, confidence-boosting bars. If you need a reminder of who you are, or who you’re about to be, start here.
1. BDK: “I don't touch bills, I don't touch doors / If I want something, I could get more / F**k a soft life, want a rich life”
Starting off with a goodie, Ken’s confidence is in full force on her ladies’ anthem “BDK.” Here, she’s not concerned with splitting tabs or reaching for doors because she knows someone else can, and frankly, should. She keeps her standards sky-high, and maybe we should too.
2. Home: “I'm like, ‘What's up, is you pullin' up?’ Got it in my cup / I'm feelin' fine, I been in the gym workin' on my reps / Is you paid or is you tryna save? Stay gettin' my way”
These men belong to the streets, and as the Houston rapper makes crystal clear on “Home,” she is nobody’s safe haven. The XXL Freshman Class alum is too busy leveling up — mentally, physically, financially — and if you want to be anything like her, don't waste a second on people who can’t match your momentum. That's exactly the energy she serves from start to finish on Kinda Famous.
3. Rose Gold Stripper Pole: “If I wasn't smoking b**ches, would've still been in they league / You know I been running s**t, I'm the Sha'Carri of the streets”
If you haven’t heard KenTheMan’s “Rose Gold Stripper Pole,” you’re truly missing out. Name-dropping Sha’Carri Richardson is her way of saying she’s miles ahead without even trying, and in the case of this What’s My Name cut, she stuck the landing.
4. Cocky: “Gotta watch these b**ches, they be boppin' like they Kodak / You know I talk my s**t and I'ma pop it like some Moët”
On the aptly titled “Cocky,” the Roc Nation signee reminds listeners to keep an eye on who’s around them and never hold back on being yourself. After all, not everyone who follows your moves is rooting for you. So, pop your confidence like champagne: unapologetic, sparkling, and always overflowing.
5. I Like: “Got it hot in here like Nelly, guess that's why they lookin' jealous / They gon' say so much about me, but they can't say I ain't pretty”
KenTheMan made one thing obvious right out of the gate on "I Like": jealousy can’t touch her confidence. The fact that she did so with a Nelly reference is even more iconic. If there’s one thing to take from these bars, it’s that pretty and unbothered will always be a winning combo.
6. Love Yourself: “Look don’t nobody show you love you gotta love yourself / Did it by myself ‘cause I ain’t need the help / They just wanna lock me down and put me on the shelf / I been through some hard s**t you gotta break my shell”
She named the song “Love Yourself,” so you already knew there’d be some self-confidence gems tucked inside. On the What’s My Name cut, she talks about building herself from the ground up with no handouts, no shortcuts, and definitely no credit to anyone else. Her bars serve as a reminder to trust your own strength, because nobody knows your worth better than you.
7. Deserve: “I know what I'm worth and I know that I'm different / I know that I can find somebody that'll treat me different”
Don’t ever let anyone treat you less than you’re worth, ladies (and gentlemen)! “Deserve” is one of her earliest — and perhaps most relatable — tracks. She’s not doing any begging, settling, or waiting around for someone to treat her right, especially not someone who fumbled her. As she later raps, “In the meantime, I'll focus on myself / Stack a lot of money, get invested in my wealth.”
8. Do It Like Me: “Came to the H and he left with a P / Say them other h**s don't do it like me / Don't do it like me, can't do it like me”
Boss women never waste time worrying about competition, because there's none to speak of. On “Do It Like Me,” just like the title promises, Ken makes it very clear she’s got that one-of-one energy. When it comes down to it, true confidence means being so secure in your own strength that you don’t even notice who’s watching or copying.
9. Poppin Sh!t: “Money, I got plenty / Y'all be acting, need a Emmy / Life a movie, I should film it / Call it ‘Pretty, Rich, and Litty’”
Everything about these bars from “Poppin Sh!t” screams main character energy. The rapper and mom isn’t afraid to openly celebrate how good life is going, and evidently, neither should we. She’s telling everyone that you have to be your own biggest fan.
10. I’m Perfect: “I'm perfect, don't you see it? / Too hard, I just make it look easy / I would stop it, but these hatin' h**s need me / Why they watchin' when they really hate to see it?”
In “I’m Perfect,” the Kinda Famous artist declares she has no flaws. Her perfection flows from her bars to her bag to her beauty. If you need another reason to stop downplaying yourself, this is it.
11. Big S**t Talker: “Still the same b**ch, but the bag bigger / I'm the rich n**ga, ain't got time to be a gold digger”
“Big S**t Talker” really — emphasis on really — lives up to its name. On the opening bars, she says we don’t have to shrink or shift to be successful. Instead, build on what you already bring to the table. Ken didn't need anyone else's money or validation; Instead, she doubled down on herself, and it paid off tenfold.