Artist: TiaCorine:format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/A-8422149-1630276973-8857.jpeg.jpg)
Album: The Saga of 34Corine
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Background by /u/djreshiram
2021 was the perfect year to get familiar with TiaCorine. For starters, the Winston-Salem, NC artist dropped The Saga of 34Corine, technically a deluxe version of her 2020 project Corine. Tia also managed to play all 3 Rolling Loud festivals in the US, make a song for fast food chain BoJangles, drop a 3 song EP exclusively on SoundCloud called Pussy, and most recently, she has a new song on GTA Online with Kenny Beats.
To say the least, if you haven't heard of TiaCorine yet, wake the fuck up.
The NC artist initially went viral for her single "Lotto" in 2019. The song saw success on TikTok going as far as a DaBaby remix. Both versions being featured on The Saga of 34 Corine. The album is an additional 8 songs to her previous release Corine. All songs, but two, return on The Saga of 34Corine.
So what does it sound like?
It has been described as Animé Trap.
It's hard. It's cute. It's badass. It's quirky. It's random. By far one of the most interesting albums of the year, and one of my favorites of 2021. TiaCorine is no doubt the one to watch and I'm super enthusiastic to share my personal thoughts on the album!
Review by /u/djreshiram
Santa
The Saga of 34Corine opens with a 3 bar loop before swirling you into the hard beating 808 world she's crafted. Great ad-libs with autotune vocal work occupy the landscape with these glittering and shimmering synths. Tia comes in with a great melodic first verse before going back into the ad-lib hook. One of the only features on the album, Frais006, comes in and does a fantastic job matching Tia's energy. He comes in with her flow, mirroring and bouncing off the beat with it. The outro is this beautiful autotune voice run that gets reversed along with the beat, as Mario slingshots you into the next track.
You Knew
The song doesn't hesitate to slap you with bass and these reversing sounds that are chaotic and insane. Tia comes in with a great hook. A thunderous kick comes in as well, accompanying Tia's soothing voice. Verse one sounds so clean on the production, perfectly intertwined with it. After another hook, Tia gives you 4 more bars before…
On P's
…Samuel L. shoots you right into the next track.
If you haven't noticed by now, these songs have been transitioning smoothly into one another. "On P's" is a whimsical guitar ballad. But like everything in Tia's world. There's a thunderous 808, with trap hats and lyrics about killing opps. Her hook is great, but god damn, her flow on the verse is so nice. She's so smooth on this track, it's equally pretty as it is vicious.
It's this juxtaposition she finds time and time again in new creative manners that make Tia so interesting. This song features a second verse, being one of the lengthiest tracks on the album, at three minutes and eleven seconds.
Hotel Mink
These bouncy keys hit you immediately before Tia shows off another cadence. Another thing she does well is catch different cadences, similar to contemporaries from Baby Keem to Rico Nasty to Zelooperzs, whoever you wanna compare it to, because everyone who's cool is doing it.
The song features some hella sexual lyrics. This song sounds like a great one-night stand in some hotel room in a big city. LA, NY, Chicago, etc. Tia throws a good chunk of lyrics before Chris Tucker in Rush Hour…
Tacos
…yells at you into the next song. "Tacos" is a daunting beat. One thing Tia does well here is rap! Coming in hot with the Goodie Mobb reference, she rhymes her ass off in a catchy flow. And she keeps it going, riding the beat so well, keeping the food reference going with getting the cheese, fuck a nachos. She also has you beating it down like bongo and can get you clean like a snot nose. Hella bars bruh.
34 Villain
This song kicks off with an anime sample before being uplifted with a heavenly synth. Then the angelic Tia voice comes in with the appropriately overbearing bass. This track has you floating with more sex lyrics. It's reminiscent of some Lil Wayne from his Autotune era, but there's still a flow Tia hits that is unique to her own. The song ends with an action scene and piano playing the track off.
Luigi
Luigi is produced by Kenny Beats, who is also credited as a guest artist on the track. One of the best things about the project so far has been Tia's beat selection. It's not really like anyone else's. The closest comparison is Carti and Uzi. All three have their own unique sound, as Tia has this cute yet heavy-hitting mystique about her beats. Truly one of a kind.
Kenny finds his pocket in her sound. That's not without saying this track sounds the most commercial. That's by no means a bad thing as Tia very much is a pop artist in my opinion. She's versatile to say the least. Yes she can rap. Yes, she can croon, she can make hood slappers. Tia can even make rock songs. So of course she can do a pop rap track. Cue Luigi.
The track is hella bouncy, featuring a lot of the fun vocal production style we've seen Kenny do with other artists. Tia sounds amazing, spitting a catchy hook with great ad-libs. Both verses are great, but damn the second verse! Fantastic performance, especially the last part with the filtered vocals. A great first effort from Kenny and Tia, and more to come, as the two have the GTA song still to be officially released, as well as more unreleased tracks they've teased on social media.
Pancakes
This is my personal favorite track on the album, for the same reason I love "Tacos". She raps! And has food references up the ass!!!! Maybe it's because she's always smoking.
First, this fucken beat, produced by Diego Ave and Bankroll Got It, is crazy. Let this be the flute beat to end flute beats. The 808 is amazing, especially when it goes into the higher registers. And again, the synths on this whole album, beautiful.
Back to Tia's rapping. Fuck this shit is incredible. It's 3 verses with just one-liners and flex bars up the ass. Some of the slickest shit is said in the second verse. She sets the verse up with "Bitch I can't twerk with this glock up in my pants". If that's not the hardest shit. Amazing song.
Lotto - Part 2
So Lotto appears twice, first here as "Part 2". It's the version with DaBaby.
I'll be honest I skip this cause I prefer the original, but the song is a banger, DaBaby drops an 8 and then it's the fire verse Tia spits. I'll talk more about the song later.
Forever
Forever is the first song from the original release that appears on The Saga Of 34Corine. A great throat clear kicks out the track as the swirling synths come in and out. Then the bass hits and Tia comes in bar after bar. This song is a great vibe catcher as you just get lost in her sweet cadence. Verse 2 is just as good as verse 1, maybe even harder with some slick bars. Just another fantastic record that ends with some DBZ…
IKYK
…then an evil laughter hits you, as well as some bedroom toy piano. Tia uses the autotune over more beefy 808s and rapid trap production. The beat features a wavy ghost synth before another solid verse is delivered from Tia. This is the shortest track on the album at 1:37.
In My Room
This song hits you with a bell-like synth melody, with a counter-melody from a buzzy, almost vocal-like synth and more fierce 808s, no heartbreak.
Tia lyrically is on her, I can't save no hoe, type shit. It's fire, kinda like everything she does. She skates with more Autotune hitting different flows over the beat keeping the ears interested. The hook's melody is definitely a seller.
Mine
Another high profile producer track with Sonny Digital, Mine is another personal favorite. Her cadence and flow is so fucken smooth. Not to mention the beat is on some late night drive hotbox session. The grooviest bass on the album is featured with ethereal piano chords drowned in beautiful effects and filters. Tia hits another slick hook which repeats an appropriate 4 times, and is bridged together with a pre-chorus and 2 verses. Great fun bars throughout the track, as the song ends with a tempo change…
Lotto
…right into Lotto. Definitely the version I prefer because god damn, hands down one of the cutest, stickiest, and hardest hooks ever. A song that came out in December 2018, it holds up and sounds ahead of it's time even still. The song only has a couple sections. It's an intro, chorus, refrain, verse, chorus, refrain, then outro.
This is a clear example as to why I'd consider TiaCorine a pop artist. She follows the basic formulas of song structure to make short catchy tracks. She does a lot with a little and it's a evident strength of hers. This song is up there with The Beatles "Hey Jude" and Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean" as contenders for catchiest pop songs. Yes that's an over-exaggeration, I don't care, fight me.
Avril Lavigne
The Saga Of 34Corine ends with a pop-punk inspired banger, as it would. Structurally another pop record, this song does what a lot of pop punk-hip-hop crossover tracks fail to do, which is present itself respectfully. A lot of rap artists wanna try this style, and they just come off too vulnerable, to the point where it's either embarrassing or laughable. Tia manages to be very poetic with her words here, giving herself space with a nice 6 syllable flow.
Another comparison I'd make to Tia is just a general comparison to 90s artists. More so the alternative rock scene of the 90s. It was really broad. Smashing Pumpkins didn't sound like Sneaker Pimps which didn't sound like Butthole Surfers which didn't sound like The Prodigy. This song in particular made me see that comparison, and it's because at the end of the day, Tia is a great lyricist, much like a lot of the artists of the 90s. It's her lyrics that shine no matter if she's rapping on trap beats or singing over guitars.
The song ends appropriately with a Sailor Moon snippet, thus concluding The Saga Of 34Corine.
Favorite Lyrics by /u/djreshiram
Santa
I'm too high right now, I don't wanna take a pic
I'm too high right now, can't feel my limbs
My voice so fire, I don't need adlibs
My nigga got me, so they wanna be like him
Synonyms, melanin
Brown sugar, cinnamon
You Knew
Do it just right, turn into cream puff
Why you double text me, boy I thought you had enough
On P's
No, I don't know what to do
I think I might grab my tool
I feel like killing your crew, yeah
Ooh
Hotel Mink
He put it in knee deep
He put that pussy on repeat
Tacos
You can beat it down in my condo
You can beat it down like a bongo
We smoke it by the pound that's a lot though
We finna takе off we on hydro
We can get you clеaned like a snot nose
Hit you wit the beam like a pothole
And we gon' get that cheese fuck a nacho
34 Villain
Pussy look like Krillin no cappin'
I gotta shorty on go no nappin'
Make yo nigga wipe me down, this satin
I got foreign lil' bitch she speak Latin
I'm riding through yo hood like what's hannen'
I'm tryna make a mill off the backend
Luigi
Ooh, I took my ice off
All you see is diamonds when it's lights off
Pancakes
Bitch I can't twerk with this Glock up in my pants
Shoot at his feet, I think that nigga wanna dance
Forever
Touchin' my clit on the way to yo mama house
It get harder to reach me I live in Osama house
IKYK
Smooth sexy voice, Toni Braxton
When I'm through with you I don't need no attachment
In My Room
I'm sorry bae, I'm not fucking with your bullshit
Like pelican, fly away, boy you is useless
Mine
He hit it once, now he calling it mine
I hit your block, now I'm calling it mine
That booty too wet, Nickelodeon slime
Spare change, I still look like I'm a dime
Lotto
I don't give a fuck, I'll beat a bitch up
Scratch off like lotto, bitch, try your luck
Glock on my hip, surgeon tummy-tuck
Got your bitch in the crowd like, "34 what?"
Nigga, I'm better than your bitch, we, bitch
Please, like ice, make everybody freeze
Get on your knees, you cannot do me
Just lick on my pussy then you can leave
Avril Lavigne
I keep my fire on
Said trust no one, I won't
Text say "why you not home?"
Reason why I'm alone
Talking Points
Do you think TiaCorine has the potential to be big?
Is there anything else out there that sounds like The Saga of 34Corine? What other artists do you think sound like her?
Of all the styles she showcased, which would you say she's best at? Any you disliked?
Would you consider TiaCorine more of a hip-hop artist or a pop artist?
Do you think TiaCorine and Kenny Beats have good chemistry?
Lotto Part 2 or Lotto?
