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Keralanka – embracing the beauty of everything going wrong (Shortened Version)

Embracing your quirks – the things that make you stand out – and being open to the unexpected, is something that captures the very essence of Toronto-based hip-hop duo Keralanka. In this interview they talk about embracing their identities, everything going wrong, what defined their childhoods and the catalyst which triggered them to lunge towards their dreams.

(This version is a harshly cut down version of the original article, skipping a lot of interesting stuff. I’d recommend reading the full in-depth article here: Aspekt.nu)

Keralanka is a hip-hop duo that know plenty about embracing aspects of yourself. While based in Toronto, Canada, the name stems from totally different roots — the name Keralanka is a combination of their places of origin — the Indian State of Kerala and Sri Lanka. Plenty of their content embodies different aspects of their lived experiences, some reflecting their racial identity. While being proud of, and cherishing their racial identity, they’re striving towards representation far away from filling quotas or being tokenized. With the slogan “Corny as fuck, but the music bangs!” they clearly also embrace something most find negative, especially in hip-hop. 

Keralanka consists of Rohan (rapper, producer) and djAP (producer, engineer).

Rohan Raj

Rohan was eight years old when he immigrated from India to Canada. He’s dabbled in a lot of things, from rapping during his teens, being involved in online communities, to marketing and entrepreneurial endeavors. While growing up and trying to figure out his identity, hip-hop was something he found especially intriguing. One of his biggest influences as a rapper is Kendrick Lamar.

Apiram “djAP” Kamalakanthan

djAP has a background in DJing. Discovering videos of music producer Ryan Leslie working in the studio sparked AP’s dream of music creation. He started DJing around 2014, which eventually led to producing. Some of his influences as a producer are Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes, Timbaland, A.R. Rahman, Kanye West, and Diplo.

Q: What’s one of your favorite childhood memories?

Rohan: Because I was an immigrant kid who didn’t really dive into making many friends, initially. In real life, I struggled to make a lot of friends. I sort of resorted to online communities, anime, books and that kind of stuff, you know. Like other universes, fictional universes.

I realize that’s like a core theme of what really defined me as a kid, realizing the power of stories and how stories can really affect you. Even if you are sort of alone and struggling internally, being brought into another world can help you cope with that, and really help expand your perspective. So you know, watching Dragon Ball Z as a kid, Yu-Gi-Oh!, reading Harry Potter … I think I really grew an appreciation for the arts, and overall just authors, writers, musicians, who are able to create a universe to bring you into.

Q: How did the decision to become a full-time artist come about? Being quite the risky move, was it tough?

AP:  I was weighing out everything I wanted to do. I was like, “What seems like the riskiest thing to do?” Out of all my goals, this was the riskiest one to me. The reason I looked at it like that – “I’m in my twenties. Compared to the future, this is probably when I’m going to have the least amount of responsibilities.

I was like, “If I don’t do this now, it’s gonna be even harder, later on.” Sure, I could do it later on … But another part of me went, “If I can do this …” I have this mindset of, “it might not pay off in the short term, but I know it’s gonna pay off in the long term.”

For me it was that thought, “Okay. If I can do this now, that just proves to me my process again” [referring to trusting his music making process]. It comes down to me just trusting my process, my intuition, and trusting it to the point where I feel something is right. I’m gonna look at my other goals and be like; “If I could do the thing that I thought was the riskiest, scariest thing …” Then I’m gonna look at everything else and be like, “It’s not gonna be a piece of cake, but it’s gonna be easier to not let the fears take over. Cause I’ve done this thing, that I considered the riskiest thing at one point in my life.” Just that thought is kinda what led me down this path.

Q: Where do you see yourself at 70 years old? 

Rohan: We’ll have like very reflective moments, where we’ll look at the things we’ve experienced. We don’t just think of it from a career standpoint. We think about it as we’re building a story of experiences, that are just really dope experiences. That genuinely make us fulfilled and happy as humans.

I don’t think about it from a perspective of like “career accomplishments”. It’s more so doing the thing that we love the most, has led to so many dope things. Like non-monetary, really dope experiences we’ve been able to experience, that only like X percent of the population will ever get to experience. Even just playing a show and having 250 people pay to see you, and just chant your lyrics. I’m so grateful for that, right. I know I’ll be reflecting on that when I’m 70. I already have memories that I know I’ll be reflecting on forever.

But on top of that, even small things, like, I flew out to India. On a whim, just on my Instagram stories I said “Hey, I know we’ve got some fans here, and if anyone wants to do a meet and greet, hit me up”. And I was like, “nobody’s gonna message me”, and then multiple fans were like “Hey, I wanna grab lunch!”. I ended up grabbing lunch with fans, and they were telling me about their high school experiences being affected by our music, and all this stuff.

I was like, “Holy shit, man!” Even though it could be considered “small” – that doesn’t matter to me. What matters is how we’re connecting to people and genuinely making connections with our fans. I’m so grateful for that, and I think those are the things that I’ll look back on. Even at 70, be like “I can’t believe that’s a real thing, like that happened, that’s crazy.”

Dare Package - Keralanka’s debut created during a 24-hour livestream

Title: Dare Package Release date: April 25th, 2020 Runtime: 7 minutes Streaming Services: Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud, YouTube

Creating something in front of a live, interactive audience calls for a rather interesting equilibrium. For Keralanka, valuing their own integrity during the creation process is essential, as a too dominant external force could disrupt their original artistic vision.

Having plentiful experience with different live-streaming ventures, it’s not a stretch to say that they know what they’re doing. Primarily these ventures have focused on them creating music in front of their audience. While enjoying the fan interaction during this process, they’ve found a middle ground. An example could be, allowing their audience to vote between a handful of sounds or samples, approved by the duo.

Q: What were some of your favorite moments during the stream, or during the whole process? 

AP: My favorite moment of this whole process was probably how everything started going wrong. Let me explain to you what happened. It was supposed to be a livestream, where I’m at my house and he’s at his, and we’re streaming together. But the software we were using stopped working during the test run that night. It just wasn’t letting us do anything.

We’re like “what do we do…what do we do?”. The only thing we can do is … we have to meet up. We’ve put so much effort into marketing this and everything, that we can’t just not. We need this to happen. We figured that out – we’ll meet up. I come over to Rohan’s house. Before the stream starts, his USB hub stops working. So, we can’t plug in my Push, my hard-drive and his audio interface, ‘cause he only has two usb’s.

“What do we do now?”. We were like, “Ok, we don’t need the Push, we can use the computer keyboard. We can swap things, it’s fine. We’ll adapt.” So then I plug in my hard-drive, and then my hard-drive is not working. The library of sounds I’m used to using are gone.

But then the cool thing I was reflecting on it this morning, the cool thing is, all of that chaos was very reflective of this whole time period right now [the COVID-19 pandemic]. It can feel like everything’s going wrong, but you can still just roll with the punches, and figure out how to make the best of it. I think it worked to our advantage, ‘cause it forced us to use different samples, different sounds. It created Dare Package, which I’m very happy with what we’ve created, as a full product, which is dope.

Rohan: Yeah, AP was so bummed out when everything was going wrong. I was just like, “Dude, let’s just embrace everything going wrong and use it to our advantage. Just think about it as another constraint, and that can reflect the EP in itself.”

AP: That’s why it was one of my favorite moments. Looking back on it especially, it’s funny it actually ties back to what I was talking about earlier in the interview. Where later on you look at things at different depths, and you start realizing things you didn’t in the moment.

We wanted the EP to kind of reflect what was going on in the moment. We didn’t want to call it Coronavirus. But we wanted it to reflect the feeling of that anxiousness, of “things are going wrong”. It was cool, because that’s actually what happened in the process, which kind of also made us anxious. Which I think actually helped us add to the feeling, and communicate that to the listener. So, from that perspective, those were … Looking back, those were some of my favorite moments, but not in the moment.

Since this interview

Since this interview, Keralanka have been keeping busy. They started 2021 off with yet another 24 hour livestream, resulting in their second EP: Mahal. Throughout the year they released multiple singles, while continuing to work on their very first album. At the moment they’re aiming to release their debut mixtape during the summer of 2022.

Curious to give Keralanka a listen, or watch the full interview? Just follow the links below:

The full interview in video format:

Keralanka’s latest release:

My socials:

https://linktr.ee/dossi_io

Keralanka’s socials:

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@keralanka

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/keralanka

#keralanka #toronto #hiphop #kerala #sri lanka #interview #tamil hiphop

[dossi-io]

Really enjoying Lee Hi’s new album “4 ONLY”. She showcases growth as an artist, while clearly staying true to her roots of her earlier work. Top tier instrumentation and songwriting on every track, wrapped together with her oustanding singing capablities. Wow!

Here’s an incredible performance of some songs from the album, together with an amazing band.

Make sure to give the album a listen!

#Lee Hi #kpop #aomg #4 only #quick thoughts #mini review

[dossi-io]

Yugyeom - Point of View (Debut EP) ┃Review

With his debut project Yugyeom takes his first steps under AOMG’s wing but does little to separate himself from the current landscape of K-R&B artists.

The content of this article is also available in video format, embedded at the bottom of this article.

Background

For those of you who are into K-pop, the name Yugyeom will probably be quite familiar. Most got to know him as the main dancer in the incredibly successful group GOT7. In January of this year, the group’s seven year contract with JYP Entertainment ended. No contracts were renewed, which naturally led to the group parting ways with the company. During February, AOMG announced that Jugyeom had signed with the label on social media. This announcement was accompanied by a dance video performance of Yugyeom dancing his ass off to Travis and Thugger’s banger; FRANCHISE.

Now, four months later, he’s not only making his debut as a full on solo artist, but also an AOMG one. Before checking the project out, I was not very familiar with either Yugyeom or GOT7’s music, so I went into this with zero expectations.

Point of View

Point of View is a 7-track EP with a runtime of 24 minutes. The subject matter here revolves around love, but there’s no real substance to the lyrics. The primary focus was obviously the sound and vibe of each track. You can tell that there was some effort put into organizing a tracklist with a varied selection of sounds. You’ll hear a decent mix of tracks ranging from moody and trapsoul inspired music, to ballads and even some party bops.

The project quite clearly shows that Yugyeom is not the strongest vocalist. Both his bright tone and vocal inflections feel rather generic, closely resembling the likes of DEAN or Red House. It can be quite nasally at times, which might bother some, but I didn’t mind it. His performance on the entire project is rather simple, but is decent enough to get the job done.

Tracks

The EP kicks things off with the track “I Want U Around”, featuring DeVita. If you’re a regular listener of modern R&B, you’re bound to have heard similar sounding tracks to this one. It’s your simple, run of the mill, moody trapsoul inspired track. For frequent R&B listeners like me, I find it important to distinguish yourself from the vast sea of talented R&B artists nowadays. While both of them had some decent performances on the track, with DeVita’ vocals obviously stealing the show, there is still a bit of their very own characteristics missing.

I think DeVita was on the right path when she started messing around with harmonies, during the latter part of her verse. She also had a few cool vocal runs going on. My main gripe was that, just as it was beginning to get interesting, her verse got cut off. The track was a solid one, but I’m not too crazy about it. I can however appreciate the importance of this track, in terms of impact on DeVita’s career. This is quite the amazing boost for someone this early on in their career. If you’re interested in learning all about DeVita, I did an in-depth video covering her story. Linked here.

“Running Through The Rain”, is the second track and turned out to be my favorite one. This is one of those tracks that despite Yugyeom not having killer vocals, his vocals are still decent enough to make quite the catchy track. This track had me boppin my head along all throughout it. Despite the extremely dull and bare bone hook, I was still finding enjoyment due to other aspects of the track keeping me engaged. When it comes to the production, GRAY really did his thing here. I think he showcases why he’s been able to remain relevant in the industry for close to a decade now. There’s an expertise to how he keeps the instrumental interesting. It comes down to his beat structure, which combats the simplicity to become noticeably monotonous. The sound selection with it’s blend of trendy synth sounds, guitars and percussion, mixes neatly together with Yugyeom’s vocals. The talkbox vocals really took the track to another level.

“All Your Fault”, is the title track and seems to be a fan favorite. It starts off with some clean strummed guitar hits. Throughout the track, the guitar licks and improvised playing add so much to the complete package. These guitar elements are obviously quite restrained in this pop-format and aim to be more subtle. Yugyeom begins to use a bit more harmonies in the background. Even while simple, they add some much needed qualities to his vocals. Building upon this there’s some well matched set of drums and percussion. The trap hi-hats are mixed very well, making sure not to take focus away from the other elements of the track, which can be a weakness when using busy trap hi-hats. GRAY’s feature on the track added a nice contrast to YUGYEOM. With all of this combined, we have yet another example of a well arranged track.

“All About You”, switches things up with some different energy. The booming 808s and the dancehall inspired drum pattern really begs the listener to get up and move. Having this lively blend of genres and a solid verse from Loco is a great way to vary the energy level of the tracklist. I found the live performance of this song on ELLE STAGE to be quite impressive, due to how closely he sounded to the recorded version.

“Love The Way”, is another fun energetic track bringing the party vibes, produced by Cha Cha Malone. This one just has that sound that will find its way to plenty of summer party playlists. Featuring both punchnello and Jay Park, I’m sure plenty of AOMG fans will mess with this. It’s a cool party record but besides that there’s not much else going on.

“Fallin In Love”, is for sure the weakest track here. I don’t think this type of production from Cha Cha suits Yugyeom that well. It highlights his shortcomings as a vocalist a bit too much, in my opinion.

Why does this not work? Well, on this track Cha Cha provides a very straightforward and super simplistic beat. With such a beat it allows a listener’s utmost focus to be put on the vocals. This works great with an artist who, either has strong vocals, an interesting approach to a track or an interesting tone. You can hear this formula working beautifully on tracks like “Lust” by Hoody, for example. The uninteresting beat and vocals just lead to something a bit too basic and plain, for my tastes. On a positive note though, props for once again adding a track with a different sound to the rest of the tracklist.

The project ends with the track; “When U Fall”. This one didn’t really connect with me, for pretty similar reasons as the previous track. The monotonous nature of the instrumental results in quite a dull and uninspired song. Even the four bars that make up the bridge feel rushed and half-hearted. I can’t feel the passion here, which for me is essential for a convincing love ballad. Instead it just feels too artificial.

Closing thoughts

With this project Yugyeom does little to separate himself from the current landscape of K-R&B artists. I think ‘Point of View’ is a decent EP, and for the most part an enjoyable listen. Knowing his background as a GOT7 member it becomes quite clear that having to carry a track all by himself is a bit awkward. Thankfully the features help out a lot with this issue, besides “Running Through The Rain” the weakest tracks are the ones where he’s by himself.

The writing of the hooks on the project feels very novice, leaving a lot to be desired. Pretty much all of them are basic and repetitive to the point that any listener should have no issue singing along during their initial listen. In combination with these dull hooks, the vocal performances, while passable, can get stale quickly. The tracks that work tend to do so, due to decent beat structure, features or switch-ups to keep things engaging.

Working on his vocals, approach to hooks, and more interesting things going on vocally, like harmonies could go a long way for Yugyeom. Working on these aspects I believe will help him avoid sounding as monotonous as in this EP. According to Jay Park, he’s already working hard on his vocals, which sounds promising.

There’s one important thing to consider regarding this EP. It marks the start of a new chapter in Yugyeom’s career, so most importantly it’s a stepping stone. If he works on his vocals, paired with his amazing talents as a dancer he’ll become a force to be reckoned with.

Listen to the project here https://aomgofficial.lnk.to/PointOfViewU

Thanks for reading or watching this review.

Credits: 

Gif from ‘I Want U Around’ MV: @moxiepoints​

#yugyoem #aomg #got7 #gray #cha cha malone #devita #chloe devita #Jay Park #jyp got7

[dossi-io]

An introduction to DeVita

Do you want to learn all about the AOMG artist DeVita? This article will cover everything you need to know about the third female member to join the labels roster.

The content of this article is also available in video format, embedded at the bottom of this article.

Prelude

In early April of 2020, the Korean hip-hop label AOMG ambiguously announced that a new artist was signing onto the label. This label was grounded by the Korean-American triple-threat; Jay Park, who’s also one of its executives. This is a label with a very organic feel and artist-oriented nature, which stands out compared to many other music labels.

On April 3rd, the label’s official Instagram account posted a video. It was titled, “Who’s The Next AOMG?” where fellow AOMG members talked about this upcoming recruit. They sprinkled small hints and details by sharing their thoughts on the artist without mentioning who.

Around the world, fans immediately began speculating on who this could be. The major consensus was that it had to be the solo artist Lee Hi, due to reporting like this: “AOMG responds ‘nothing is confirmed’ to reports of Lee Hi signing on with the label”

A few other names got thrown in fan speculations like Hanbin (B.I), previous member of IKON, Jvcki Wai, and MOON (문) aka Moon Sujin. This despite a few of these already being signed to other labels.

On April 6th, three days later, the account was updated with a part two. This time dropping more hints, which would exclude many names from fan speculations.

On the 7th of April, the label’s official Instagram account posted a short teaser. The video sported an 80’s retrofuturistic setting, with a woman turned from the camera, dressed in all black, rocking braids, and some glistening high-heels. As it seemed to be a female, some were now certain that it had to be Lee Hi. A small few actually guessed correctly that the one who would be joining AOMG would be Ms DeVita.

Finally on April 9th, it was official! She debuted with the music video, from which the teaser clips was taken from, EVITA!, which accompanied the release of her EP, CRÈME.

What does the name DeVita mean?

The name DeVita, draws inspiration and meaning from two things. Firstly, Eva Perón – also known as Evita – who was Argentina’s former First Lady. When Chloe was learning about Eva’s life, it inspired her to combine “Devil” and “Evita”, thus creating “DeVita”. The name signifies the duality of how both Eva Perón and DeVita could be perceived. Either being a devil, or an angel depending on the eye of the beholder. Secondly, Salvatore Di Vita, a character from Cinema Paradiso, was also a source of inspiration.

An introduction to DeVita

Chloe Cho – now known under the artist name DeVita – was born and raised in South Korea, until the age of eleven. In 2009, she moved to Chicago, where she would learn English.

In 2013, she went back to Korea and participated in the third season of the show; K-pop Star. A talent show, where the “big three” (the three largest music labels in Korea) hosts auditions to find the next big k-pop star. However she didn’t win, therefore neither got signed.

Later on, she returned to Chicago and graduated high school. After reflecting on what she wanted to do next, she decided to make music. In 2014, her pursuit to become an artist brought her to the talent show Kollaboration. On this show, she performed covers and actually ended up being a finalist. Despite her talents, she did not triumph as the winner of the show.

Not letting these losses stop her, she started releasing music on Soundcloud. The earliest release I could find, Halfway Love (Ruff), was from 2016. Her catalogue consisted of both covers and original music.

One day, Kirin, an artist and CEO of the music label 8balltown Records, was introduced to DeVita’s music. He liked what he heard and the two linked up. In May of 2018, WEKEYZ, one of 8balltown’s producer duos released a track titled Sugar. This track featured both DeVita, and the AOMG rapper Ugly Duck. This was the beginning of many collaborations to come.

On August 28th of 2018, just a few months later, AOMG released Sugar (Puff Daehee Mix).

This was a remix done by Puff Daehee, the alter ego of Kirin. Along with this track, it was accompanied by a music video starring Kirin, DeVita, and Ugly Duck. For most people, this was their first time seeing DeVita.

DeVita continued doing features on many songs by Korean artists while creating a little buzz for herself. There’s one notable feature, which could be seen as an important milestone in her career. That is her feature on the track Noise, from AOMG artist Woo Won Jae’s project, titled af.

In a tweet a few days after the release of CRÈME, she shared the significance of this moment.

“I was still making minimum wage working at a restaurant back when Noise dropped- I wrote my part during my shift on the back of this receipt paper. This was about a year and a half ago. A little bit after that I got a call from Pumpkin at 3am Chicago time. He said Jay wanted to meet in Philly in 4 hours. They put me on a plane and the rest is history.”

The phone call she mentioned in her tweet, about Jay wanting to meet, must have been made around September 2018. Jay was performing in Philadelphia at the time. The moment they met in Philadelphia was actually captured through a photo of the two. However, this picture ended up getting removed later on.

Fast forward a few months and Jay had just released his Ask About Me EP. The project focused on a western audience, so he went to the States on a promo run. During his visit, he also met up with DeVita once again, as can be seen here.

Finally, on April 9th, her being signed to AOMG was officially announced and she debuted with her EP titled CRÈME. Her joining AOMG, looked like something that happened pretty naturally. The vast majority of artists she had collaborated on tracks with happened to be AOMG members. Getting comfortable with the AOMG family, likely made the decision to join crystal clear.

Artistically

Just a quick look at her body of work thus far, a majority of it is in English. However, she has no issues singing in Korean, as proven by her feature on Code Kunst’s; Let u in. The tone in her voice has this sort of mixture of many singers, a melting pot of sorts. It reminds me of Audrey Nuna, SAAY, H.E.R, some vocal riffs from Dinah Jane, and at times, just a tiny bit of Ariana Grande.

As an artist, she’s still in the early stages of carving out her own unique sound and style. There’s incredible potential here, but her distinct identity is not completely there yet. I see before me a caterpillar that within a couple years, will transform into a butterfly, with its own identifiable pattern to spread its wings out on.

From what she’s shown so far, I would say she seems most comfortable doing R&B and soul music. However, beyond a quick description I prefer to refrain from categorizing her. Mostly because artists generally feel limited when categorized. More importantly, because we have no idea what she has in store for the future.

Debut EP: CRÈME

CRÈME is DeVita’s “crème de la crème”. She constantly modified the tracklist to present her debut project in a way that held her personal standard; essentially presenting us her best tracks. The result is CRÈME, which consists of five tracks, with a runtime of fourteen minutes altogether.

This EP showcases the fact that she is a competent songwriter, able to write some soulful, emotional ballads. It is completely in English and all the tracks are written by her, telling both life stories of her own and that of others. A majority of the production was handled by her “musical soulmate”; TE RIM, but other notable names, like Code Kunst show up as well.

Tracks:

Movies, introduces the project in a very gentle manner. In the track, DeVita paints a picture of a criminal couple, getting a rush, by committing crimes together. The lyrics feel inspired by movies like Bonnie and Clyde. My initial thoughts were that, for some ears, it could possibly be “too” calm as an opener. It doesn’t demand attention the way EVITA! does. Simply put, it’s not a bad track. I would just have put this track later on in the EP.

EVITA!, is something different compared to what I hear from others in the K-R&B lane. I love the 80’s aesthetic in both the track and music video. Sonically, the nostalgic saxophone riffs, warm lush synth pads, thumping bass line, results in a trip back to the 80s. With this recipe, topped with DeVita’s “current” contemporary soul and R&B voice makes for an interesting combination. The music video had that futuristic 80’s look with the neon colors, and I loved how the guns she played around with looked a lot like the “Needlers” from the Halo franchise.  The title is once again just like DeVita’s name, an ode to the controversial Eva Perón. The instrumental was originally used by TE RIM, the producer of the track in 2017. His version has the same title as DeVita’s version and I recommend giving that one a listen as well, as it has a different feel to it. This track was definitely one of the highlights of the EP.

All About You, is a simple yet beautiful piano love ballad. Originating from her own tales of love, her vocals effortlessly capture what she felt during these moments.

1974 Live, is yet another ballad, but this time, with a calm guitar backing, playing a poppier R&B chord progression. DeVita’s voice is given a lot of space to be in the center of the track. As soon as I heard this track I became curious. What was the significance of this year, which would have her title the track as such? My questions were left unanswered… until the EP had marinated a while, when she tweeted: “1974 Live is about Christine Chubbuck”. In case you’re unfamiliar, Christine Chubbuck was a television news reporter, who made history in 1974. She was the first person to commit suicide live on air. According to her mother Christine’s suicide would on paper be due to an unfullfilling personal life. All throughout her life, she had experienced unreciprocated love. With this information tying back to the track, it becomes a lot less ambiguous and reveals a more cohesive narrative.

Show Me, is the final track of the EP, featuring immaculate production from the talented CODE KUNST. The sound is very moody, which fits her voice like a glove. This is my favorite performance on the entire EP, both lyrically and vocally. The lyrics present someone who’s fed up dealing with men, who talk the talk but don’t walk the walk. Now she’s looking for love with someone who’s honest and “real”.

With the project being a year old now, it has already gotten her nominated for both Rookie of the Year along with EVITA being nominated for Best R&B & Soul Track in the 18th iteration of the Korean Music Awards.

A majority of listeners seemed to enjoy the project. Many seem to be in love with her voice judging by the endless amounts of praise she has received, often described as painfully addicting, soothing, smooth, and so on.

I also asked a friend who’s a huge fan of Korean music, especially the hiphop and r&b scene to share her thoughts on the project. Here’s what she said:

"This whole project is empowering, in particular the tracks Show Me and EVITA! DeVita being a new artist, managed to impress me and many more listeners through this EP. As mentioned earlier, empowering lyrics with unique melodies and beats. Especially with the track EVITA! The fact that 1974 Live and EVITA! was referring to, two historically important women, is something that I love. This is one of my favorite EP:s of 2020 and DeVita is now included in my list of favorite artists." @Haonsmom

From what I’ve seen, only a few have been vocal about not really being too fond of the project. Some were left a bit disappointed, as they were expecting more hip-hop and R&B from an AOMG artist. The lack of “danceable” tracks was also a concern to some. Despite these criticisms, one thing was always mentioned; the girl has a beautiful voice and is obviously talented.

After listening to this EP, I hear a lot of potential. Being an EP with just five tracks, it definitely avoids overstaying its welcome. It’s brief enough to allow a listen through the entire project, no matter what you’re doing. My favorite tracks would have to be Show Me and EVITA!, but I found the whole project to be enjoyable. This EP is sprinkled with lovely vocal performances and simple but captivating production. I do still stand by my opinion that Movies would have fit better later in the tracklist if you’re chasing that mainstream ear.

I think the way EVITA! kicks you in the face, demanding attention, would’ve been a better fit as the opening track. In contrast to the other tracks, the energy level is unique, making the placement feel odd as the rest of the tracks have a chill vibe. All in all, this project gave me a taste of the “crème” but left me with a curious yearning for what this chef will whip up for dessert.

Bright future ahead

The addition of more female artists to the AOMG roster was much needed. Hoody was the first and only female member for about four years. This was the case up until late 2019, where she was then joined by sogumm, who had just won AOMG’s audition program called SignHere. Now funnily enough after DeVita, Lee Hi actually did end up officially signing with AOMG on July 22, last year.

Based on what I’ve heard during Devita’s Kollaboration days, she has improved immensely. This topped with her leaving the impression of someone passionate about their craft, bodes well for what's to come. She seems to be someone who'll constantly evolve.

Following an artist, at the early stages of their career, is something that I always find exciting. With such a lovely debut, I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for DeVita.

To view the content of this article in video format simply play the video embedded below.

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Credits:

The first image in article: Original photo, pre-edit from @jinveun

Gif from the Sugar Puff Daehee MV: @moxiepoints

#devita #krnb #jay park #aomg #h1ghrmusic #8balltown #kpop #review #korea #uglyduck #chloe devita #chloe cho #kirin #evita! #crème #moon sujin #khh #korean hip hop #krap