Young Lyric Connects With Claressa Shields For Confident New Single “Can’t FWM”
Young Lyric has spent much of her life proving that longevity in Hip-Hop is about more than getting attention early. On her new single “Can’t FWM,” featuring boxing superstar Claressa Shields, the Houston artist sounds like someone who has moved well beyond introducing herself. This is about knowing exactly who she is.
The pairing makes sense.
“Can’t FWM” is driven by attitude, self-belief, and the kind of competitive confidence that works just as naturally in a recording booth as it does inside a boxing ring. Young Lyric handles the record with the swagger that has followed her throughout her career, while Shields brings the mentality behind the nickname GWOAT — Greatest Woman of All Time — into Hip-Hop territory.
The single was released September 4 via Bad Akktor Records, with Young Lyric and Claressa Shields both credited on the 2:13 track.
Listen to Spit Fire Radio: www.spitfireradio.com
For longtime followers, Young Lyric’s evolution may be the most interesting part of “Can’t FWM.”
The Houston native started recording as a child and built an audience through music and videos online before receiving national exposure on Lifetime’s The Rap Game. In a 2025 interview, Lyric recalled starting to rap at seven, making songs with her father and uploading videos to YouTube before eventually landing on the Jermaine Dupri-led television competition at 14.
SpitFireHipHop readers have watched part of that development as well. When we covered Young Lyric’s “Gorgeous” video in 2023, the story was already becoming less about the child star people remembered and more about the artist she was developing into.
“Can’t FWM” feels like another step in that progression.
There is no need for Lyric to overcomplicate the concept. The title itself establishes the record’s position. It is competitive music — the type of statement record built around believing the distance between you and the competition is bigger than outsiders realize.
And then she brings in someone who has made a career out of proving exactly that. Calling Claressa Shields the GWOAT isn’t simply clever marketing.
Shields is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and became the first boxer — male or female — in the four-belt era to become undisputed champion in three different weight divisions. And her dominance has continued in 2026.
In August, Shields dropped from heavyweight to middleweight and stopped Kaye Scott after six rounds in Atlanta, capturing the WBC and WBA middleweight titles in front of more than 16,000 fans at State Farm Arena.
That context gives “Can’t FWM” an extra dimension.
Shields isn’t appearing beside Young Lyric simply as a famous athlete attached to a rap record. Her entire public persona fits the song’s message: confidence backed by accomplishment. Young Lyric says you can’t compete with her. Claressa Shields has spent years making essentially the same argument with her fists.
The accompanying video pushes that energy further.
Young Lyric and Shields appear against a luxury backdrop of exotic vehicles and modern architecture, giving the visual a polished lifestyle aesthetic without distracting from the personalities at its center. The imagery is intentionally aspirational — success is part of the language of the record.
But the more interesting visual is simply seeing the two together.
Hip-Hop has always shared DNA with boxing. Both reward confidence. Both require performers to convince themselves they are the best before anyone else agrees. Both can turn rivalries, personalities, and bravado into entertainment.
That makes Young Lyric and Claressa Shields a particularly natural combination.
For Lyric, “Can’t FWM” represents another chapter in a career that has already lasted far longer than the viral moment that originally introduced her to much of the public. She is now an adult artist determining what the next version of Young Lyric looks and sounds like.
And bringing the GWOAT along for this particular statement makes the message difficult to miss.
Watch Young Lyric featuring Claressa Shields in “Can’t FWM” below and stream the single now on digital platforms.
