Reneé Rapp’s sophomore album lets fans take a glimpse into the most intimate parts of her life — including her relationships, multiple careers and friendships.
Two weeks ago on August 1, pop star Reneé Rapp released her sophomore album, “BITE ME.” With 12 tracks and a play time of just over half an hour, Rapp manages to explore several genres, deliver a few gut punches and publicly self-reflect on her life over the past two years since the release of her 2023 debut album, “Snow Angel.” As a fan of Rapp’s since before the release of her first single, “Tattoos,” in 2022, a track-by-track review of the latest addition to her discography felt necessary.
Track 1 — Leave Me Alone
Serving as the lead single released on May 21, “Leave Me Alone” is a short and sweet opener to the album that appeals to large audiences and gets straight to the point. This song derails from Rapp’s usual sound that veteran fans have come to know and love her for, but the track is still a fun and experimental piece for the singer to hook new listeners. Though the song successfully introduces a new era for Rapp as she becomes more well-known in the industry, “Leave Me Alone” doesn’t follow a clear story, its main message written in the chorus’ hook and serving as nothing more, nothing less than what it says it’s there for: “Leave me alone, bitch, I wanna have fun.”
While the track is fresh and sums up Rapp’s careless and fun-loving personality with lyrics like “Can I tell you a secret? / I’m so sick of it all” and “Sign a hundred NDAs, but I still say something,” the track unfortunately serves as the weakest of the album with shallow writing, a repetitive chorus and an abrupt ending that abandons its rhyme scheme. Despite its flaws, the punchy and nonchalant summer anthem put Rapp back on the pop scene and in demand after a years-long hiatus.
My rating: 6.5/10
Track 2 — Mad
“Mad” was the second single for “BITE ME,” released on June 27. The song follows Rapp in a seemingly never-ending fight with her partner where they are choosing to be mad at her over reconciling and, to put it bluntly, having sex. Like other tracks, Rapp leans into the early 2000s rock genre along with her pop sound. This tune follows the typical pop song routine, really showcasing her strong vocals and striking nature, namely at the bridge: “Don’t give me that shoulder, come get closer / God, it’s pissing me off / I wanna get mad at you, right back at you / But it’s kinda hot.”
This is the second best of the singles, in my opinion, its one flaw being that it doesn’t have any room to breathe or let listeners take the lyrics in. Rapp sings one line after the other, making it overwhelming to try to decipher and understand the first go around. She shoves all her thoughts into just under three minutes, resulting in many fans like myself comparing her to veterans like Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande, who take their time and allow their lyrics and artistic choices to ruminate and make an impact. This track, upon my very first listen back in June, left me not knowing what hit me until I was on the ground, song already over with Rapp’s soft but unhinged sign-off of “Could’ve been gettin’ head” trickling into my headphones.
My rating: 8/10
Track 3 — Why Is She Still Here?
A surprise third single released on July 18, “Why Is She Still Here?” slows way down compared to the previous two singles and tells the story of Rapp being the “side chick.” A pop ballad with heavy R&B influences, the song poses a very intimate story with lyrics such as: “If it’s you and I, then why is she still here?” and “You can tell me you don’t love her / But you should probably tell her too / ‘Cause I can’t keep sleeping undercover.”
Believed to be about her now-girlfriend Towa Bird, the single features an increasingly haunted Rapp wanting to know why she can’t have her lover to herself, or more fittingly, why her lover’s girlfriend is still around if she keeps seeing Reneé behind her back. The song is a stark difference to the previous two tracks, but I always love when Rapp leans into her R&B side. I find she shines in that area, especially telling a story such as this one. She wears her heart on her sleeve and commands listeners to hear her. It’s a strikingly beautiful track that became my favorite single over time. She shows off the best parts about her artistry while staying true to her unique feel and incorporating some striking metaphors: “She’s on that towel wrapped up around my head / And that note that’s stuck to the mirror I shouldn’t have read” and the aforementioned “sleeping undercover” line.
My rating: 10/10
Track 4 — Sometimes
Having had the first three singles on repeat since their respective release dates, hearing “Sometimes” as a follower really showed me what a ride I was in for (which, as a long-time Rapp fan, I shouldn’t have been surprised by) with this album. This stripped-down, gentle ballad features Rapp reflecting on an unhappy relationship and wanting more of the person she is with, which Rapp broods on with lyrics like: “If I can’t have you, then let me find someone else / I’m tired of being a good time / It’s killing me having you sometimes” and “I need you more than just physical.”
This track shows off some of Rapp’s best qualities as an artist, including in the relatable writing and her ability to perform a sad song. With potent instrumentals and the emotional way Rapp has mastered tugging at fans’ heartstrings with her lyricism, “Sometimes” excels in these fields. Where it doesn’t shine, however, lies in the vocal diversity and length. While Rapp’s high falsetto and emotion-filled renditions of her writing will always give me chills, almost the entire track is sung in this one style. I find that this could have been a more powerful ballad if there were some changes in the vocals, as it feels monotone in this way. The length will be and has been a continuous gripe of mine with this album — Rapp has been proving herself since her EP and debut album to successfully be able to write these relatable, passionate lyrics … but the song is three minutes and four seconds long. She is pining for someone, it feels almost disingenuous to listen to her say how bad she wants this person to be with her, even saying “getting over you is gonna take a toll,” but just a few minute song is all she can show for it.
My rating: 9/10
Track 5 — Kiss It Kiss It
Rapp began teasing “Kiss It Kiss It” on her social media after all three singles had been released, but left fans waiting in anticipation until the album’s wide release. This number is more of a modern dance pop, including groovy synth inspiration, a catchy beat and heavy sexual innuendos: “You’re gonna kill me if you kiss it like that / Got me in tears, but not because I’m sad / Top of the mornin’, let me pull your hair back.” It reminds me of Gaga’s “Poker Face” in a slight way, even though the tracks are individual and different.
This fun number follows a weekend-long romance Rapp has with another woman from the other side of her town. It’s full of infatuation, an upbeat nature and the pop star’s masterful cheeky charm. While I can’t relate to the queer love or messy hookup aspects of this track on a personal level, Rapp has made me get up and dance and sing along to her hypnotic lyrics like “I’m seeing stars, I’m tripping hard” and “I told her I’m from Carolina (yeehaw) / I know a thing or two ‘bout rodeo (whoo!).” Like its predecessor “Sometimes,” this track doesn’t show off the super diverse vocal range Rapp possesses and I do wish the last chorus showed off more of what she’s capable of vocally, but the intention was just plain fun and it delivered as advertised. Following “Sometimes” gave me whiplash upon my first listen, but it is fun enough that I can shake off the sadness from it to enjoy this one.
My rating: 8.5/10
Track 6 — Good Girl
Following “Kiss It Kiss It,” “Good Girl” also leans in a synth pop direction. The melody is reminiscent — almost nostalgic to me — of ‘80s hits like “Hungry Eyes,” “Bette Davis Eyes” or “Time After Time.” It details Rapp changing after she meets another woman. She paints herself as the titular good girl, but after meeting her inspirational counterpart, her life becomes more chaotic and she becomes less refined: “I was doing alright being a real good girl / About to call it a night, I promise, I was / Just have one drink and then leave like a grown-up / Until you showed up.”
The nostalgia is heavy for me, however, I can’t help but point out the cheesy writing. A stark difference from other, stronger tracks, this one is chock-full of statements that feel almost immature. I know Rapp is only 25, but some of “Good Girl”’s lyrics feel like they belong in a middle school movie: “Ooh, safe sex and no drugs / Ooh, until you showed up,” “I wasn’t planning on dancing ‘til the sun came up.” Something that triumphs over many of the negatives for this track is: much like with “Why Is She Still Here?” and its R&B influences, I also quite enjoy when Rapp leans into the style “Good Girl” falls under. It feels like it belongs in an ‘80s teen film. Rapp swooning over the synths almost makes me swoon, like she’s put me under a dreamy spell.
My rating: 7/10
Track 7 — I Can’t Have You Around Me Anymore
Also rumored to be about Bird, this second stripped-down ballad serves as a cousin to “Sometimes” in certain ways. The track details Rapp having conflicted feelings for another woman while already being in a relationship. Her secret feelings result in her not wanting the other woman around anymore so she can avoid hurting her partner and the woman she’s falling for behind the partner’s back: “Now it’s causing lots of issues with my baby at home / ‘Cause in every single picture we’re a little too close / And I love you, but I wanna, and it’s making me feel unsure / So I can’t have you around me anymore.”
This track has some of the album’s strongest and most vulnerable writing, giving listeners a glimpse into some of Rapp’s regrets and deepest feelings, even crying while giving a live performance at her album release party. While I grumbled about “Sometimes” and “Kiss It Kiss It” not showing off Rapp’s voice as much as they could, I find the lack of vocal versatility perfect for this number. It’s so well-written to me that having a simple guitar strumming alongside Rapp’s voice is all this song needs to excel. The flow of the music, her calming voice and the little production choices (like hearing a slight static in the background, for example) make this one all the more vulnerable. It’s a deep cut — perhaps the most emotional of all 12 songs on the album — with heartbreaking sentiments down to the last lines: “And she’ll never be you, but she keeps me on course / And I’m not supposed to wonder if I should be yours / So I can’t have you around me anymore.”
My rating: 10/10
Track 8 — Shy
“Shy” begins with an early-2000s pop-rock guitar riff, instantly giving me whiplash again after the previous track put me in a state of despair. The song is about Rapp being so smitten with someone that they make her, well, shy. It might be obvious by now that this is an album about love and relationships in all their heartbreaking and euphoric glory. In her first album “Snow Angel” and EP “Everything to Everyone,” Rapp provided more of a balance of songs about romance, personal traumas, family and speaking to her younger self. I would critique the romance-heavy aspect of “BITE ME,” but “Shy” makes me forget all about it for three minutes.
I’m not criticizing the romance aspect of the album, but I am criticizing the growing staleness of the inspirations taken from other decades and artists. Almost every song reminds me of another artist or time period — if Rapp chose a lane and stuck with it (R&B, pop-rock, indie/alt, or whatever else her heart might desire), the album run would be much stronger and less all-over-the-place. This track has the classic pop-rock sound from the ‘90s and early-2000s that I wish the entire album leaned into. Within that sound is a strong chorus, a cool and catchy bridge and shows off her voice the way I’ve been wishing the rest of the album would. She sings a sweet “whenever you’re around, babe / I kiss the ground you’re walkin’ on” falsetto, then dramatically switches to belt the chorus “Don’t handle me with care / When you’re pullin’ my hair / Baby, ruin my life.” That’s it, I’ve heard enough: I want Rapp to ruin my life. It feels as though she’s returning to her Broadway roots with this track. I love the way she sells herself on it; it was immediately my favorite on the album.
My rating: 10/10
Track 9 — At Least I’m Hot
Nearing the end of the album, “At Least I’m Hot” serves as another “Kiss It Kiss It:” a fun, meaningless dance track for listeners to not think too hard about. The title describes the content of the song perfectly: if Rapp can’t be happy, at least she’s hot. There is no story the song follows, just Rapp’s message to the world. After being in her head and thoughts for the majority of the album run, this is an essential pleasure track to get her and everyone’s mind off their own troubles: “Rather be in my bag than get stuck in my thoughts.”
I enjoy the catchiness and experimental aspects of “Kiss It Kiss It” more, but this track is just as fun. It features Rapp’s girlfriend Towa Bird and doesn’t say much more than Rapp detailing that she doesn’t care if the whole world hates her, if she cries or if she’s happy because, above all, she’s hot. That’s the thing that makes me enjoy it slightly less than other fun dance tracks: not only is good writing and content in a song what I gravitate to, but it’s also cool to care about stuff. The whole album has an essence of Rapp having a nonchalant “couldn’t-care-less” attitude (see also: “Leave Me Alone” and, of course, “Kiss It Kiss It”), but saying and implying “I don’t care” begins to get old and repetitive by track nine. I wish it had better writing, but I’d still dance to the catchy beat every time, no matter what lyrics she sang over it.
My rating: 8/10
Track 10 — I Think I Like You Better When You’re Gone
If I were one of Rapp’s exes, I would be certifiably pissed upon hearing this song — and not just because of the incredibly long title. In this number, Rapp again shifts away from the upbeat dance tracks to yet another bare-bones ballad about feeling better once her partner isn’t around her: “I got a funny feeling, funny feeling something’s wrong / I think I like you better, I think I like you better when you’re gone.”
I will always be seated for a ballad or sad song from Rapp, but this is the exact same formula as “Sometimes” and “I Can’t Have You Around Me Anymore.” Rapp mainly stays in that high falsetto with minimal instrumentals, and it begins to blend with the other two slow tracks. I started to wonder why she included this one to begin with, it could have been worked into one of the other two ballads and been replaced with something else. On top of that, this track is only two and a half minutes, making me question its place on the final tracklist even further. As a fan of Rapp, though, I have to give her props for being so transparent and self-reflective on such a public platform. Not many artists would admit the things she has at such an early stage in her career, but this is an introspective feat I applaud her for, especially in such revealing lyrics like “Counting down the days in different ways” and “I know that I’m supposed to miss you and wish that you were here / But the more I drink, the more I think you might just disappear.” Unfortunately, the positives don’t outweigh the negatives for me, and I still end up challenging whether it deserves to be included.
My rating: 5/10
Track 11 — That’s So Funny
“That’s So Funny” is the exact opposite of what it implies it will be. Kicking off with ominous piano keys that feel like an Alfred Hitchcock movie, Rapp isn’t laughing at anything — she’s angry: “Dressed up my anger and tailored it to suit you / Taught me to look over, over my shoulder.” The funny part and content of the song is who she’s angry at, someone Rapp detailed is an ex-friend. An ex-friend she’d already written a song about, in fact, on the track “Poison Poison” featured on “Snow Angel.” Rapp detailed that after writing “Poison Poison” she realized she was still mad at the situation she was put in with her ex-friend and wanted to revisit her emotions through “That’s So Funny.” It’s not funny that she was deceived, but funny how the person told their version of the events: “Yeah, that’s so funny, baby / That you would tell it like that / You paint yourself rather / Lovely, baby, don’t you?”
The track sees Rapp increasingly angry, building in suspenseful chord progressions and tone until it reaches her belting a climax of “I loved you / And you loved the attention it got you / Took my love / Twisted it to a f–k you.” It gives “I Can’t Have You Around Me Anymore” a run for its money on the emotional front, but it’s less profound in the lyricism and more intense in the vocal delivery. This song is much slower and more serious than “Poison Poison,” showing Rapp’s growth as both a singer and songwriter.
My rating: 7/10
Track 12 — You’d Like That Wouldn’t You
The closer for “BITE ME” revolves around Rapp predicting everything her ex-girlfriend wants from her, from showing up and objecting to a wedding to crying on a couch while begging to get back together. It pokes fun at her exes as Rapp instigates them with all these hypothetical scenarios, ending in the very question the track is named after: “I bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Again taking inspiration from the early 2000s, the final track is full of her feisty nature and authenticity.
It doesn’t stand out next to tracks like “Shy,” and she definitely gets bold with some of the lyrics — insinuating her ex pleasures herself to the thought of Rapp begging to take her back — it’s definitely not my favorite and flies more under the radar for me. However, I could say 1,000 times that I love when Rapp uses those rock and punk sounds on top of her pop persona, and it would never stop being true. She’s not afraid to say all the things everyone wishes they could say to someone in their life, this one feels like it should have a full band with speakers turned up all the way as she jumps around and shouts “I need you to know / The thought of getting back together / Makes me wanna die alone” into a microphone. The more I listen to and think about it, the more it grows on me.
My rating: 7/10
While more cohesive in its overall production, Rapp’s debut album “Snow Angel” is ultimately a better feat in her discography for me. I felt the writing on her first record was deeper and experimented with genres better; the somewhat disordered aspects actually make that debut all the more special to me (but that’s a review for another day). “BITE ME” also had great experimental aspects and amazing vocals (as expected from Rapp, a former Broadway star), but “Snow Angel” was decidedly the better venture for me. Regardless of their differences, virtues and vices, both albums put a long and promising singing career in front of Rapp. From having open disdain towards certain tracks on her past works to saying she’s proud of and wants to perform every song on this album, I can’t help but also love it for that sole reason.
Despite my bias for “Snow Angel,” Rapp’s sophomore album was still a blast, from the sad ballads to the ‘80s-sounding rock to the R&B samples. I would have loved a title track named after the album, longer songs and for Rapp to find a brand to really sell herself on in the future, though. This is only the singer’s second album, so it makes sense that she’s still experimenting and finding where she wants to nest. She hasn’t found her voice or unique slot in the industry yet, and this isn’t her strongest body of work because of that in my opinion, but “BITE ME” still encompasses Rapp’s whole personality — the good, bad, ugly, undesirable and desirable — in a beautiful, passionate and full-circle way.
Average album rating: 8/10
Sarah’s favorite tracks: “Shy,” “Kiss It Kiss It,” “Good Girl,” “I Can’t Have You Around Me Anymore”
Sarah’s least favorite tracks: “Leave Me Alone,” “I Think I Like You Better When You’re Gone,” “That’s So Funny”
Header Image by Alex Carrasquillo
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