British-Japanese singer Rina Sawayama revisits the Y2K pop landscape and gives us her own interpretation of it all on her deeply personal self-titled debut LP

BRITISH-JAPANESE SINGER RINA SAWAYAMA REVISITS THE Y2K POP LANDSCAPE AND GIVES US HER OWN INTERPRETATION OF IT ALL ON HER DEEPLY PERSONAL SELF-TITLED DEBUT LP

Born in Japan and raised in London, Rina Sawayama is an artist caught between two cultures and identities. The Cambridge graduate-turnedmodel-turned-pop star makes that very clear on her debut studio album SAWAYAMA, a follow-up to 2017’s eight-track mini album Rina. Here, she explores the concept of “belonging” while trying to navigate through her family history and stereotypes without falling prey to the predictable trappings of modern pop.

The record, in fact, sounds like it was made in the early aughts, a curious period when Timbaland and the Neptunes’ brand of bouncy R&B blissfully co-existed with pop and nu-metal. Lead single STFU! captures that spirit with its fierce nu-metal riffs and the equally ferocious lyrics aimed at her haters with their racial slurs: “Have you ever thought about taping your big mouth shut?/ ’Cause I have, many times, many times!”

The Britney Spears-inspired Comme Des Garçons (Like The Boys) finds her addressing toxic masculinity and male privilege whereas XS exposes our capitalistic nature and how we still want to possess more stuff even though the planet is literally dying before our own eyes. “Gimme just a little bit, more, little bit of, excess/ Oh me, oh my/ I don’t wanna hear, no, no/ Only want a yes, yes,” she sings to the guitar stabs (the topic of climate change would later resurface on

F*ck This World (Interlude)).

On the more personal offerings, there’s

Dynasty, an anthemic family-themed ballad evoking the Goth-emo angst of Evanescence and t.A.T.u.. And even though her real family can be less than ideal, she finds comfort in her adopted LGBTQ+ circle on Chosen Family on which she sings: “We don’t need to be related to relate/ We don’t need to share genes or a surname… So what if we don’t look the same? We been going through the same thing.”

The verdict:

There’s something undeniably punk rock about the way Rina approaches the overall production of SAWAYAMA. She essentially redefines the “nu” in nu-metal and delivers not only one of the most intriguing pop albums of this year, but also one of the most heartfelt.

Quotable lyrics:

“I’m a dynasty/ The pain in my vein is hereditary/ Dynasty, running in my bloodstream, my bloodstream/ And if that’s all that I’m gonna be/ Won’t you break the chain with me?” (Dynasty)

Listen to this:

Comme Des Garçons (Like The Boys), XS, Dynasty.