If Karishhma Mago choses to live by her name, she has absolutely done so with her second EP, “Kick Out,”.
“Kick Out” is more hip-hop influenced than herfirst EP, “Wasabi,” even though the two were released only months apart.
“Kick Out” has a groovy feel. It’s not quite a dance vibe, it’s more mellow than that, but not nearly as mellow as “Sushi Mode,” which is a dreamier piece of work than her latest.
With “Kick Out,” Karishhma Mago gives instrumental music a new depth and a new energy. It is grittier and has more strength in its sound.
She recorded it in her home studio, likely inspired by the Miami-born musician’s time spent in the studio. She was there so often it probably looked like she was casing the joint.
“It was just around me and I loved it so much that I just kept going to the studio,” she told in an interview earlier this year.
What the studio did for Karishhma Mago
While there, she developed several different skills – an eye for producing other people’s music, along with an idea about the direction she wanted to take with her own work.
She’s handled both masterfully.
While she initially worked on beats – and still does so on the side – she has been crafting her own work for months, juggling many different challenges to make it through what are sometimes 85-hour days.
“Kick Out” brings depth and a deliberate hip-hop edge to her work, while “Sushi Mode” could fit into many different genres completely comfortably.
Her latest is likely more personal, a better reflection of what direction she hopes her music will take.
It has strength and power, with occasional elements of softness that show us how personal Karishhma Mago is willing to get with her work.
Instrumentals reveal more
While those closest to her know her for exotic lyrics, the public sees a more intimate side, since instrumentals are raw emotion set to music, and put much more power into listeners’ hands.
“I am more interested in music that inspires me to feel something simply through those broad brushstrokes, that allows me to interpret its meaning through the emotions that the song simply brings with it,” says music fan Jeff Pearson. “Instrumental music is what allows that type of interpretation the most, giving the listener the sounds but allowing them to write their own story built upon the emotions they elicit.” With instrumental music, “you’re just given the paint, and asked to turn your feelings into words.”
