Bebe Rexha’s fourth studio album is a rebirth: uncompromising and unapologetic, even when she’s messy. Bebe Rexha’s fourth studio album is a rebirth. The Brooklyn-born singer came up as a songwriter, grinding for years before she landed a major-label deal of her own—and then spent much of that time under contract feeling like she was playing a part, chasing an idea of what a pop star was supposed to look like. Following 2023’s Bebe and the completion of her deal, DIRTY BLONDE is her first project as an independent artist, named for the striking hair color that makes her feel most like herself: uncompromising and unapologetic, even when she’s messy. The album started as a dance record, with Rexha throwing herself into 130-BPM tracks that would help her feel anything but the heartbreak she was going through at the time. On “Hysteria” and “New Religion” (which respectively sample club classics “Meet Her at the Loveparade” by Da Hool and Faithless’ “Insomnia”), she finds liberation and healing under the strobing lights of the dance floor, lost in the euphoric blur of pounding drums and hypnotic synth melodies. Eventually, the numbness wore off, and she allowed herself to become vulnerable again in her writing. “i like you better than me” is an emotional gut punch about comparison and insecurity, “The Way I Want You” longs for a love that’s unrequited, and “Time” reflects on a relationship with regret: “So many good times but I never had a good time.” But Rexha’s having fun now too. On the swaggering baddie anthem “$.H.I.T,” she’s quick to remind you that she’s the “sugar honey iced tea.”