On her second album, Winston-Salem upstart expands the bite of 2022’s I Can’t Wait with a scathing versatility that defines her work. Released via Interscope, it’s the longest, most poppy Tia Corine album to date, and sees Corine smoothing out the rough edges, teaming up with some unexpected characters, and exercising her self proclaimed pop-star status (“Buttercup”). Opening with a pop-rap track featuring Saweetie and filled with Tia’s trademark ad libs (“Pretty”), the first three tracks start off strong; they’re an eclectic mix of pop and rap that makes for an easy, fun listen, with lyrics that are sharp, clever, and a little vain. It continues with “Lotion” featuring Flo Milli— a sparkly, confident, girl-stunting anthem that finds Corine and FloMilli rapping about sex-themed debauchery over a signature FloMilli beat (vintage-inspired, rhapsodic 808s and melodic choruses).
There are standout moments in the production and structure of the album (the Smino track feeds perfectly into the Wiz Khalifa one, making it sound like they’re all on one song), but there are moments where it falls flat. Where the bubblegum pink beats and sugary, fluttery delivery shines at the beginning, by the middle it starts to fail to propel itself forward. CORINIAN is her most refined, organized, and fun album to date— the pop-rap princess has never been one to tone down the fun— but songs with similar beats start competing for space. It’s a shame— the middle slog contains song (“Booty”) and one of her most catchy songs to date (“Cutting Ties”). The catchy “Different Color Stones” is good because it’s a mix of both, blending relatively stripped back elements with a take-no-prisoners delivery. And ”LA LA LA” turns the album’s second half in an entirely different direction, leaving an awkward blend between the two. ”LA LA LA” is genuinely unexpected— a bombastic, soul-waking reggaeton-inspired track that finds her singing in Spanish. You can certainly pinpoint the artists that have inspired this one, from the Bad-Bunny-popularized, pompous rhythm, to the Young Miko-type delivery. The energy continues: the simmering “Backyard ft. JID” barges in with a similar cadence: a barked delivery of lines that attempt to subvert hypermasculine sexual excess. It’s a new conviction for her— it’s her at her most confident, salacious, and insane— the same FreakyT who gained herself a national hit with lyrics as “I got cream, make a bitty cling, boost your self-esteem // I get top in the mornin’, so I feel like Baby Keem.” (“FreakyT”, I Can’t Wait, 2022).
And live, it’s great. There’s no denying she’s a great performer: onstage there’s no noticing the album’s shortcomings; any line she’s singing, good or bad, will be delivered well. That much was evident tonight at her album release party, where Corine captivated the room entirely despite not coming on until the wee hours of Friday morning. “FreakyT”, a viral fan favorite, is an obvious bang with the crowd, but several sleeper hits— (“Backyard”, ”Lotto”, and the new “Damn Right (ft. Pouya)”)— elicit similar reactions from onlookers as they leapt about and whined and grinded with strangers against the slinky 808s and booming bass. Since her debut in 2018, she has been recognized as a princess of the underground— after all, the release party was in a Brooklyn warehouse in the middle of Bushwick, and given a mic and a stage, Corine remains a charming character and an assured, confident performer. CORINIAN seems to be her most thoughtful project yet, never breaking its self-assured, hard-edged stride, while still clinging to some vulnerability, even if the album is a little uneven. While she does seem to lean on the features a bit to fill the holes left by shaky composition, the lyricsm of her solo tracks has steadily improved to date, and this really shines through in the second half of the album. Honorable mention is “Impossible Girl”, which ends the album on a high note with an bashful, yet braggadocio exploration of self-love. She is, after all, “just a girl”. It’s disarmingly charming, proof that Corine is full of contradictions— she’s more than just punchlines and grillz.
Her first album after a risky vocal surgery in 2023, CORINIAN is self-proclaimed as the result of years of “stylistic exploration, personal growth, and meticulous attention to detail”. “If you pay attention to the artwork of the projects, you can see a pink aura in the background. That place is everything Tia wanted to be,” she says in a press release. “Now I’m here. There’s no fear. No doubt. No second-guessing. I’ve reached my final form.” She’s blooming fast, and we’re glad she’s taking us along for the ride.
Check out more moments from the CORINIAN album release party by photographer Valerie Magan, below.
