As if divinely sewn together, Asia Karin’s stirring lyrics join with the supple tonality of the guitar that backs her in the new single “One Day,” and by the time we reach the song’s first chorus, there’s no debating whether or not this young woman is in the right line of work. In “One Day,” Asia Karin asserts herself as being among some of the most talented triple-threats in the game, and between her rhymes, harmonies, and the beats that frame them, she successfully presents an artistry in this track that goes completely unparalleled in 2021. Both in and outside of her local scene, a skillset like hers is always a rare find, but considering how well she’s utilizing it here, hers is a sound all the more profound to come across this spring.
WEBSITE: https://www.asiakarinmusic.com/
If you’ve never heard Asia Karin’s music before now, it’s likely the harmonies she aggressively straddles with both rapping and singing the same will have a big influence over how you interpret her narrative in this song. It’s easy to initially get wrapped up in the virtuosity of her material’s cosmetics, but upon closer inspection, I think it’s incredibly hard for listeners to ignore the intricacies of the content at hand. While “One Day” isn’t particularly dexterous or challenging for a vocalist of this caliber, I don’t think it was created to demonstrate this player’s ability (at least not entirely). This is an affirmation of what most critics and fans had already come to realize in Rhythm & Bangers last year; Asia Karin is a lights-out, no-joke baller.
For those who value delivery more than any other element of a solid hip-hop performance, “One Day” is a masterclass in more ways than one. The confidence behind the microphone is defining and important in authenticating the sentiments of the lyrics here, on the one hand, while on the other Asia Karin’s actual style of execution – relaxed and unrushed – is the main reason the verses flow together as well as they undisputedly do. It takes a lot of heart and concentrated strength to put something out that sounds as effortless as this track does (ironically enough), and if there were any onlookers questioning whether or not this songwriter had such qualities in her beforehand, I think they’re going to better understand who she really is with this release.
APPLE MUSIC: https://music.apple.com/us/album/one-day-single/1547111530
Concise, soulful, slightly menacing – Asia Karin reps a new wave of Baltimore hip-hop in “One Day” that knows no boundaries in the realm of melodicism, and in time I think she’s going to be one of the hotter players coming out of her scene in this era. As a semi-finalist on BET’s Amplified, she’s already garnered a lot of acclaim from an established audience, but my gut tells me she’s reaching for something even grander when I listen to her in a song like this one. She’s got so much talent and limitless ambition, and with continued dedication to the medium, she’ll likely find international fame a lot sooner than some of her contemporaries will.
Mindy McCall