CHAII - “Main Thing”

SXSW 2024 - OEB Score: 8; Popularity Index: 4

Pairs Well With…MIA, SZA, PinkPantheress

CHAII continues her path towards pop-banger expertise on a pair of singles released last year, melding her hip-hop vocals with eclectic melodies and earworm rhythms. The Persian-via-New-Zealand artist has crafted two of her biggest sounding songs in “Drippin’ In Gold” and “Main Thing”, electro-pop hooks that smartly highlight melody over rumbling bass beats. CHAII sounds even more confident on these tracks than her last release Pineapple Pizza and it feels like her embracing dancefloor rap over the chiller tones of what came before. SXSW 2024 should be a continuation of exploring what’s next for this evolving and accessible artist. (Kevin McStravick) 

2022 Review: Finding space within hip hop, R&B, and indie pop, CHAII’s sophomore EP Pineapple Pizza lets the New Zealand artist explore while still rocking around hook-heavy songwriting. There’s creative, quirky energy emanating from each of Pineapple Pizza’s six tracks, songs that sand down sunny beats to work both as a dancefloor or a headphone listen. While consistently bouncing, Pineapple Pizza is an experimental pop record first, shifting from woozy trap or high-powered house on a dime around CHAII’s twisted, infectious melodies.