\u00a0\u201cKAASHMYCHECKS,\u201d<\/a> which debuted early August under her new record label, Rostrum Records. Already, Paige is experimenting with sound. Her EP fusing hip-hop and electronic music, and the album touching back on her melodic R&B roots.\u00a0<\/p>\nAs a teen, the Dallas-born artist found early success after releasing her first EP, \u201cParked Car Convos,\u201d which featured her viral TikTok sensation, \u201cLove Songs.\u201d Paige has since soared, collaborating with artists such as Don Toliver, Travis Scott, and Alicia Keys, and has taken her music internationally, this summer touring in China.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Through eleven songs, Paige pens with a raw realness, bringing audiences closer than ever before.\u00a0 The opening ballad, \u201cGOD SAVE ME,\u201d tugs between loving and hating someone following a breakup. The reactiveness of the lyrics, mixed with the piano\u2019s heavy sound, offers a look into the chaotic emotions that lead people to \u201ccrash out crazy\u201d when they\u2019re left confronting a broken relationship. Paige doubles down on the feelings she started with in, \u201cWhat happened 2 us,\u201d highlighting the confusing nature of an unstable relationship. Although pain-struck, Paige sings, \u201cIf this was real, we\u2019d be beautiful together,\u201d\u00a0 still wondering about what could\u2019ve been despite the neverending cycle of ache.<\/p>\n
She finally breaks away from the pattern in \u201cSexy Freestyle,\u201d where she returns to the sensuality deeply entangled in much of her music. The song, short but straightforward, is like meeting eyes with someone for the first time and letting your imagination overrule all else. \u201cHigh\u201d brings the tempo down with a haziness that feels like seeing things in slow motion. Featuring DeJ Loaf, the song is perfect for late-night rides with the windows down, as the dreamy guitar strums quietly below the song. \u201cMAKE LUV,\u201d much like the songs before it, puts desire on full display, leaning towards the escapist aspect of being intimate, and the following song, \u201cNever Getting Back Together,\u201d is a haunting but necessary realization of leaving a relationship in the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cSTUCK ON STUPID\u201d is melodic but gut-wrenching in its vulnerability, as Paige touches on the restlessness of insecurity when not given the same amount of energy in a partnership. The song is conveniently followed by \u201cF.U\u201d\u00a0 as its unfilteredness provides an honest reaction to being done wrong. And, not shying away from the \u201ctoxic\u201d title \u201cCHEATERS ANTHEM,\u201d is a risque confession, where Paige proudly proclaims, \u201cI\u2019m a cheater.\u201d Over the track, she states, \u201cIt\u2019s not the fact that I\u2019m tryna do it, it\u2019s just sometimes I can\u2019t control how I feel and the temptation and the urgency inside me.\u201d Here, impulse outweighs remorse in this candid callout.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The final song, \u201c305,\u201d is more self-assured\u2013 Paige now opting to search for something more. Referencing the South Florida area code, Paige sings about feeling \u201calive\u201d, an optimistically fresh approach against the darker mood found throughout the album. This song is the light at the end of the tunnel for Paige, finally allowing her to romanticize newfound freedom.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c2 Late To Be Toxic\u201d shows that this love, the toxic kind, cannot survive. Her bluntness gives an answer to the limbo-like state of losing a romantic partner and uses that pain to her advantage, in the end delivering a standout album that mirrors many realities. From start to finish, the strengths of each song lie within its sincerity on the topics of love, heartbreak, infidelity, and more, allowing listeners to reflect on their own experiences. Baring all and burying nothing, Kaash Paige\u2019s latest project reaches self-actualization, turning turmoil into peace of mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n