Kaash Paige just released her debut album Teenage Fever via Def Jam which landed #1  on Apple Music’s R&B album charts. The 19 year old Dallas based singer-songwriter appeared on the track “Euphoria” with Don Toliver and Travis Scott after building a following on SoundCloud. I was surprised when I went through the 13 song album – it’s deep, introspective and unique, kind of like Erykah Badu, Isaiah Rashad, or SZA.  Everything about Kaash reeks vibe, including her name which is an acronym for Kill All Arrogance Stop Hatred. Check out the album and start at the beginning.

We just added Loose Change by Gold Member to KOAR’s Indie Invaders playlist. The 2019 track Worth It is really good too. The Sydney three-piece gigged around performing Europe/UK festivals, pre-covid of course. The band describes the sound as electro-skank-hop. Give it a stream.

For the last several years, MTV’s Video Music Awards (now the mask awards) has been trying to bolster its viewership and recapture the glory it once had over the public. The execs were hoping they would announce a spike in audience viewership, instead they walked away with a 5% drop. In fact, only 1.3 million watched on the MTV channel. To put this in perspective, America has a population of 330+ million people. The other channels (MTV2, Country Music TV) that broadcasted the award show averaged around 222,000 viewers.
The show was very predictable with no surprises. It barely made headlines, not uncommon for the times we are in now. The acts that performed got the trophies which makes sense. I can’t blame them, I would want a trophy, if I’m going to rehearse, hire some choreographers, a stylist, and a makeup artist. Lastly, the show had no effect on the music charts, but that’s not to say the artists didn’t benefit. Just the fact that some parts of the show with Gaga wearing a mask was a Twitter trending topic makes it all worth it. I suppose…

Have you heard of Cassie Marin?  She released a EP—titled ‘Sellout’which blends R&B, Pop and Electronic. Her new EP is edgy and dark which is rare for a new artist. Most artists come out the box reserved and work into music that has more attitude. Before covid rolled in, the 23 year old singer would gig around Los Angeles. She also landed on Spotify’s “Born In The USA” playlist. You can get to know her more in this interview.

I’m liking Before I lose You by Cate Tomlinson. It has an early Ellie Goulding vibe which I love, not Ne-Yo that has a song that shares the same title. She’s 18-year-old and from San Francisco. Obviously she’s finding her way, but I like the road she’s on. She’s also attending Northeastern University as a Music Industry major which I love because the music industry needs change. Right? Bring it on…