Hi, everyone. Kickthony Standtano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. It's time for a review of the new TiaCorine album, Corinian.

Here we have a brand new LP from North Carolina rapper, singer, and songwriter TiaCorine.

This is her second full-length, which I understand completes a trilogy she started with 2022's I Can't Wait. And Corinian over here also follows some vocal surgery that she underwent in 2023. Since then, Tia has said that she's been very careful to maintain her voice.

Corinian over here is also said to be Tia, in a way, in her final form, and that this record is the most polished that her work has sounded so far, and I tend to agree. Also, from what I understand, many of the tracks on this record are also performed from the standpoint of different characters or points of view. Which is interesting given the variety of inflections and vocal deliveries that Tia engages in on the 17 tracks of this album, which, at least for me, was a big part of her appeal early on when certain singles and features here and there were grabbing my attention and putting me onto her music.

For example, one of my first introductions to her stuff was through a verse that she had on Denzel Curry's "HOT ONE", where she just went at the beat with this insane accent that, I don't know, to my ears, had her sounding like Betty Boop talking about 'dolluh soignz.'

Either way, given that Tia is somebody who, at least artistically, is battling with multiple personalities or maybe rather balancing them. Of course, this record is going to sound a little all over the place. And, intentional or not, it feels almost representative of platforms where her music has popped off the hardest, such as TikTok, where nearly every new track that I listen to feels like a pull or a swipe to a different piece of content, which I have no clue or idea as to what I'm going to get next.

I mean, just take the first several songs, for example, in which we get "Pretty", a very glitzy pop rap opener with a lot of melodic lines. It is both confident and funny. Love the bars about Tia waking up and thanking God that she's pretty, comparing herself to 50 Cent because men, she's got many. Saweetie has a very cold-blooded, hot girl-type verse. It's a sleek, sexy, bubbly intro. Really couldn't ask for more in terms of kicking this album off.

But right after this, Tia gives us "Ironic", which hits us with some much funnier and deeper vocal inflections, a different accent entirely that leaves her verses sounding like they're being performed by someone from The Boondocks or maybe a character from Disney's Recess if they were attempting to record a mixtape, but rapping at a volume to where they're not going to wake the neighbors.

And on the following track, "Buttercup", a total switch-up. Yes, similar vocal range, but now Tia is doing a moody post-punk thing. Okay, crazy. Again, sort of TikTok brain, but somehow her voice works within it, and it's a genuinely catchy song, even if the instrumentation does sound like regimented in the DAW.

Then after this, one of my favorite tracks on the entire record, "Lotion", an 80s-flavored rap banger that just oozes Salt-N-Pepa, maybe L'Trimm's "Cars That Go Boom", that thing. Of course, Kenny Beats brings the production on this one; it goes over so well. Tia just captures this era perfectly and is backed up by Flo Milli on a guest verse. We already know her vibe fits into this throwback retro rap style really well, and it's just refreshing to hear that it works with Tia, too.

So, yeah, already four tracks into this album, I feel like we've gotten four different songs we could have gotten from four different artists, and we pretty much continue with this pace forward from here. I'll say this, though, in this anything-goes tracklist, there are most definitely some duds to be had. Most often, it's the dreamy autocroon numbers. Those are the ones that mostly fill in one ear and out the other.

That and some of the straight rap tunes that are so impossibly led to the point where Tia's energy is kind of low, and the overall vibe is just way too casual to convey anything that leaves a super lasting impression. I'm talking about tracks like "Cutting Ties" as well as "Crush" or even "Booty", which, in comparison with other cuts here that have maybe a stronger chorus line, feels like a random freestyle.

There's also "LA LA LA", which is a random Latin trap number — didn't see that coming — which, production-wise, is maybe just a little too blissed out. And if Tia was going to head in this direction, I would have preferred that it be something that sounded a bit spicier, throw a few extra jalapeños in that bitch.

Many other tracks on this album, though, are more wild than mild, be it either "High Demand" with Smino as well as "Was Hannin" with Wiz Khalifa, both of which feel like expertly updated 2000s club bops with infectious hooks, playful verses, and a lot of personality. Again, couldn't ask for more. Even Wiz Khalifa's very standard delivery and performance on "Was Hannin" can't weigh that song down.

I feel like "ATE" is also another decent highlight with one of the most unique samples on the entire record. Just this crazy series of chant and hang drum loops set to smooth synths, a very alluring vocal delivery from Tia, and a strong feature from Atlanta rapper Jus10 on the back end of the song, who clearly pulls a lot of inspiration from ballroom culture, which makes sense given the music video features all sorts of dancers and voguing. It's a strong finish for sure.

And the ending of the album has some decent standout moments, too, like "Backyard" featuring JID, which has one of the most insane and hype, and unhinged hooks on the entire project, 'bitch, shit, fuck, put in my-,' which really hits against the production's galloping hi hats and rumbling bass. Tia's energy is on 11 throughout the entirety of this track. And JID, of course, comes through with a very sharp flow, just surgical with some of his rhythmic switch-ups. A lot of humor, a lot of personality. It's obviously a song that is energetic as fuck, but doesn't take itself too seriously.

And there's also "Damn Right", which is a track that brings almost like an old-school grimy Memphis sound, of course, with Pouya on the back end of the track.

And at the finish line of the record, you have "Impossible Girl", which is a track that I love the ambition of. I like Tia's vocals a lot on this song, but I feel like it's a song that's indicative, too, of this record's shortcomings. Because while I do like the messaging behind the song, and I do like the vibe and the vision that Tia is trying to bring, again, vocally and lyrically, the production is just too plain, too stiff, too bland to, I think, really bring the world building and overall fantastical sound that I feel like she's alluding to, that she's gesturing toward.

And that's the thing. I feel like Tia has a lot of ambition, again, on this project, but her producers and collaborators aren't always at her level in terms of being able to help her fully bring to fruition the vibe or the direction that she's hoping to go in with the boldness and accuracy to whatever the idea that is in her head that would make this album feel so full of different elements, full of different characters, as it were.

Because, again, vocally across this record, you could hear Tia embodying a lot of different voices and perspectives and vibes and feelings. Sometimes I just wish the production switched up as boldly as she does to really make that change come to life. That is, if she's going to continue pushing in this direction, where she is giving fans a little bit of everything, but chock-full of personality, no matter what move she's making.

I do appreciate the fact that the record is book-ended with these two shots of fantastical, almost like storybook, strings and instrumentation. There is definitely a macro picture going on here, for as chaotic as Corinian is. I'm looking forward to in the future to seeing the vision come together a bit more cleanly, hopefully, which is why I'm feeling a light to decent 7 on this one.

Anthony Fantano, TiaCorine, forever.