22-year-old Japanese-American alternative R&B artist Camp Kona was a self proclaimed choir kid, and that title has stayed with her throughout her adolescence. Evolving into a musician who blends the layered harmonies she’d become accustomed to belting out at school concerts into her nostalgia ladened R&B sound, before adding a contemporary bite with warped electronics from the rapidly rising hyperpop space.

She captures the feeling so adolescence through her bubbling hooks, reminiscent of iconic girlbands from her era, and today she does it again but adds a bit of a twist. Leveraging her bi-cultural identity, she blends together Japanese and English lyrics in a hypnotic polymerisation that transcends western music ideologies to become something entirely her own. Creating more space for Asian American music in the process.

Rely On (頼らない) is an empowering anthem about the joys of being independent. With a classic yet fresh vocal, Kona grabs your attention and draws you deeper into her world with the distorted bass driven synths and insatiable hooks her croons. One listen and you’ll be casually humming it on your morning commute, after two listens you’ll be belting it out in the shower and by the third you’ll fully understand the hyper surrounding her. Camp Kona is making her mark on the American R&B space and is welcoming other Asian American’s to do the same.