As a music writer, I am happy to get bombarded each day with links from new artists and groups. My favorite part of each day is being able to plug in my headphones and shut the rest of the world out in favor of new music. However, there are few acts that give me a unique feeling when I listen to them.
Over the past decade, there are only a handful of instances in which I can remember exactly where I was when I first listened to that new artist. I can remember my brother passing me an earbud to listen to Drake’s “Congratulations” for the first time. I can remember getting dressed for football practice when I first heard J. Cole’s Friday Night Lights. More recently, I can remember being on the train home from a long, frustrating day of classes and work. Surfing through Soundcloud, I found an acoustic version of Post Malone’s “Congratulations” by Jane Oranika, better known as Chika. Impressed with her voice and honesty, I immediately surfed through her page to find other covers of Chance The Rapper‘s “Juke Jam” and J. Cole‘s “Be Free”.
if i can get everything cleared and packaged up, next month. https://t.co/KoFaRHCeZb
— Billy the GOAT (@oranicuhh) February 8, 2019
Over the past year, it’s been a pleasure to see her develop and get better at her craft. In the last few months, it’s been fun as a fan to see her connect with Nick Cannon, Akon, Missy Elliott and many more. Along the way, I kept wondering when we’d hear another project from Chika. Today, we got a little closer to an answer. While on Twitter, Chika was asked when her next project was dropping. While nothing is set in stone, she replied, “If I can get everything cleared and packaged up, next month.”
Let’s all hope that everything goes smoothly. Fingers crossed. In the meantime, check out some of her music above.
