Asian and owning it, these ladies are ready to further cement their places in the music history with new and upcoming releases.
Rina Sawayama - “Comme Des Garçons (Like the Boys)”
Japanese-British pop-futurist artist Rina Sawayama recently announced that her debut album SAWAYAMA will come out on April 17. This has been a long time coming for Rina, who had been spending the last few years gaining a following and captivating audience with her late-90s-to-early-00s-inspired sound before she was signed by Dirty Hit in 2019.
While Rina's previous songs have mostly gone criminally under the radar, the lead single of SAWAYAMA is an unmissable treat for the ears. Titled "Comme Des Garçons (Like the Boys)," the electrifying club track is an ode to the two elements that have brought her to where she is today: the early 2000s pop and "the gay men that have always shown Rina love," according to a press release.
Rina elaborates, "The idea that the socially acceptable version of confidence is in acting 'like the boys,' otherwise as a woman you get called a bitch - but in the club, we reclaim the word "bitch" as a sign of ultimate confidence ('yes bitch', 'work bitch'). I wanted to sit these two together and make a club fashion banger that makes you feeling like THAT bitch whoever you are."
SAWAYAMA is available for pre-order here.
Yaeji - “Waking Up Down”
Rising electronic star Yaeji continues to ride high with a new mixtape on the way. The producer, vocalist and DJ has been releasing killer singles, EPs and remixes in the past few years, but this mixtape will mark the Korean-American's first full-length project with XL Recordings.
Titled WHAT WE DREW 우리가 그려왔던, the mixtape features 12 songs, including the lead single "WAKING UP DOWN". The track brilliantly highlights Yaeji's strengths as an artist; bubbly beats, mellow vocals, bilingual lyrics and all.
The single also comes with an anime-like music video, which is illustrated by Annie Zhao and features characters designed by Yaeji herself.
WHAT WE DREW 우리가 그려왔던 will drop on April 2, and is available for pre-order here.
Stephanie Poetri - “Do You Love Me”
Stephanie Poetri's pop music career has been a whirlwind since she released the viral hit I Love You 3000. She has since been signed by 88rising, recorded a duet version of I Love You 3000 with one of her personal idols, Jackson Wang, and seen the song rise to the top of Billboard China Social Chart, among other things.
Last month, the 19-year-old Indonesian singer followed up the success with a new EP. Released on Valentine's Day, the EP consists of two love songs, although Stephanie has insisted that they're about anything but romance.
Stephanie has also described the lead single, "Do You Love Me", as "childish," even though there is nothing immature about the dreamy tune and manipulatively upbeat production. "It questions if the romance is real, so we’re ironically releasing it on Valentine’s Day,” she explains.
"Do You Love Me" is available here.
