TRACK REVIEW: koi. – Balingkinitan

Written by Elijah P.

Dancehall’s time in the 2020s may be at its last legs with the rise of jersey club and drill still taking over the race of hip-hop’s production trends, koi takes it a step further by implementing a twist to it: sung wholly in Tagalog. Well, for the entirety of afrobeat and dancehall’s 5-minutes-of-fame in the prime of late 2010s music trends, its revitalization is strongly credited with the strong presence of Tyla’s western R&B sensibilities. However, koi’s mentioned twist to the genre is effective in its catchiest form to date, ultimately elevating its form on the track’s sung language.  

Produced by underground’s up-and-coming heavyweights Pxyche, NJ, and esseca. The first two mentioned producers deal with actual heavyweights like Hev Abi and Sica, koi is in good hands from the very beginning, but his actual contribution of smooth vocals and delivery just feels like they’ve successfully passed the vibe check for the entirety of its track run. I am looking forward to hearing more stuff like this soon in the future.

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