We at Scratched Vinyl have had the pleasure of watching Brooklyn vocalist/emcee Corina Corina’s unfold since she released her first album, The Eargasm, back in 2012. She released her sophomore album in 2014, and then followed that up with a mixtape at the beginning of 2017 called Run The Blues. The mixtape was enjoyable, but it wasn’t the anticipated third album we had been waiting for. Now that wait is finally over as Corina Corina delivers that album, Hangover Music.

One of the difficulties that Corina Corina had at the beginning of her career was that she was an artist with a lot of different influences, and so she faced the additional challenge when writing and recording her first album of trying to figure out just where she fit in musically. Some artists know exactly who they are right from the start, like how some might start off rocking some East Coast boom bap, and then it just becomes a matter of fine tuning their skill sets as their career moves on, and maybe trying something different down the road. With Corina, she was a vocalist with a background in blues and jazz, but then balanced that with a love of pop, R&B and disco. This was already plenty to work balance, but then she also brought in this deep love of underground hip hop. It was a tall order to figure out just how to make all of this work, but fortunately, Corina Corina had a musical partner in producer Willie Green who’s been working with her since day one. If you’re familiar with Willie Green, you know that he is one of the most talented producers and engineers working in music today, and he’s demonstrated on his own projects like 2016’s Doc Savage that he can bring in elements of prog, baroque, disco, and hip hop and make it all his own, so this was definitely the right person to be working with. It was really just a matter of time before everything clicked and the music took that next step.

When I first pressed play on Hangover Music, I let out a little yell of “Yes!” to myself, and then hoped my neighbors weren’t home to hear me. I couldn’t help it, though, because there’s something just so exciting about seeing someone finally take that big step and make the album that you know they were capable of. Using the theme of alcohol to tie the album together, the album moves from direct references like “BAR$,” which discusses her life as a bartender, and what that really means from the day to day and over the years, to a song like “Sober,” which is much about romantic relationships as it is about her relationship with alcohol. Sometimes the album shines just from the details of the particular place in life Corina finds herself in, such as “Wedding Season,” which gives an anthem to all the single women in their thirties attending weddings, and all the awkward social interactions that includes. It’s really an album for women in their thirties who still haven’t “settled down,” whatever that means, and are still pursuing their passions. There’s a great mix of grit and soul to her voice, something that comes from experience, both from being on the road and recording for years, and just having more life under her belt. She finds a few spots here and there across the album to spit a few rhymes, letting everyone know how far he skill set has evolved over the years. Mostly, though, it’s about that balance. In working with Green, they’ve built an album that first and foremost works as a pop album, with some big hooks that you can sing along to, and they’ll stay in your head for days. There’s not just genre blending, but some truly unique melding of sonic elements over the course of the album, so that when you listen closely, you’ll find yourself wondering just how Green knew to bring these different layers in such a way that you can’t peel everything apart, because they’ve truly melded into something new entirely. This works perfectly with Corina, who is able to move between blues, soul, disco, R&B, pop, and hip hop with ease, trusting in her voice, her musical partner, and her experience. It all comes together to make an album that is accessible and easy to listen to, but it also sounds completely unique unto Corina.

The third album jump is a real phenomenon, especially with artists who don’t fit neatly into a box. Corina Corina has definitely made the jump with Hangover Music. It’s a complete listening experience, and one hundred percent Corina’s voice.