EP Review: FLO, ‘3 of Us’

Even though their Missy Elliott-assisted “Fly Girl” is still in rotation, FLO has surprised us with a three-pack of brand-new songs just as the summer begins to hit its stride. Titled 3 of Us, the EP follows The Lead as FLO’s second EP in anticipation of their full-length debut album. 

Comprised of “Control Freak,” “Change,” and “3 of Us,” the new EP finds FLO updating classic R&B songwriting and production tropes with the contemporary edge of today’s attitudes and Afrobeats, respectively. The project opens with “Control Freak,” a spunky kiss-off to men who can’t seem to envision women living lives without them at the helm. Rousing background strings bring an element of high drama to their sweet spot of late ‘90s/Y2K hip-hop-inflected R&B production. “You be tryna cuff me like the police / When you talkin' to me, watch your tone, G / Take it slowly, you control freak,” the British trio sings.  

The staccato delivery of the first line of the chorus (“I might let you hold me”) provides a rhythmic template for the girls to fill out with their rap-sung cadence, as does the cheeky beatboxing interlude between the chorus and the second verse. When trusted collaborator MNEK emerges during the bridge to round out some of the lower harmonies, the textures of his voice pair well with the whistle register flirtations that decorate the song’s finale. 

From there, “Change” arrives as a 2023 reimagining of Destiny’s Child’s “Girl” in which the young women of FLO give each other advice regarding ain’t shit men and try to talk some sense into the more delusional parts of their brains and hearts. Here, the trio focuses on emotive songwriting as opposed to flashy riffs and harmonic sequences. “He's gon' be creeping around, no, there ain't no doubt / Coming home late at night / Don't let him in, you don't know where he's been / It's only a matter of time,” they warn. 

“3 Of Us,” the EP’s Afrobeats-tinged title track, closes the project on its highest note. The ladies of FLO flip the concept of Brandy and Monica’s classic “The Boy Is Mine.” Instead of fighting another woman over a man who is playing the both of them, they opt to come to their senses and let that man go. The song sits in the same Y2K R&B/Afrobeats lane as the Happi remix of their breakout hit “Cardboard Box,” and it’s a smart choice for them to return to a sound with more individuality and less immediate connection to a bygone era. 

With two terrific EPs under their belt, FLO has delivered a plethora of great music in a relatively short time span. Fans are sure to clamor for more updates on their official debut LP, but between The Lead and, now, 3 of Us, FLO has blessed us with more than enough smartly written and fantastically performed pop&B tracks for the time being.

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Score: 77