Written by: Nick Roseblade

It feels like forever since Awkwafina released some new music.

In the intervening years since her debut album, Yellow Ranger, the New York-born rapper (born Nora Lum), has hosted a talk-show and has been making waves in the acting world, most notably appearing in Dude, Oceans 8 and Crazy Rich Asians. Somehow, in between all that, she’s found the time to return to music with the In Fina We Trust EP.

While her new effort isn’t as strong as Yellow Ranger, there are slices of vintage ‘Fina in there.

After an intro based on mistaken identity on a train, the EP gets going proper. “Cakewalk” has a decent backing track, but ‘Fina’s punchlines don’t work as well as they did on Yellow Ranger. It’s a strong track, but it’s not in the realm of “My Vag,” “Queef”’ or “MYC Bitche$.” That said, the stand out track here is “Ghost” and it’s about as good as anything she has previously released. Loaded with hilarious anecdotes about dating and ghosting guys, the song tells us that just because she’s gone Hollywood, she’s still the same hilarious, foul-mouthed, girl we fell in love with in the first place.

In Fina We Trust isn’t a complete let down, but with the rapper spending time acting, and not concentrating 100% on music, at times it feels a little rushed. Yes, “Inner Voices,” “Pockiez” and “Testify” are decent, but they don’t have the punch or the punchlines that we’ve grown to expect.

As ‘Fina’s Instagram post said: “So many amazing people have helped collaborate on this album and I am just so grateful that I didn’t have to produce, record, mix and master fully naked in my kitchen.”

A nice sentiment, but sometimes too many cooks can indeed spoil the broth.