“FreakyT” is about two years old, but its legs gave TiaCorine one helluva of springboard for her burgeoning rap stardom. Now, she might have another such hit on her hands thanks to her new EP, Almost There, and its standout single “Bonnet.” In the video for the boisterous, boastful track — which TiaCorine directed herself along with Farren Jean Andrea and Shaq Gonzoe — Corine shows off some of her interests, including fighting games (the one in the video cleverly repurposes sprites from the Scott Pilgrim game), anime (I wrote a long thing about this for Black History Month, check it out), and cruising around with her friends.
The plot of the video plays out like a martial arts action movie (cleverly foreshadowed by the video game she’s playing at the beginning) and gives vibes from previous cheeky takes on the genre like Nicki Minaj’s “Chun-Li” or Migos’ “Stir Fry.” Tia uses the anime sequences to avoid doing any dangerous stuntwork — seriously, that flail takes YEARS to master — and the video even ends with a staple of medium (and internet meme): the cast running in front of a sunset. It’s cute, and Tia is RAPPING-rapping throughout.
Tia’s currently gearing up to headline her first tour — Monster deserves more credit for putting people on — which kicks off in March. Check out the video for “Bonnet” up top.
Almost There is out now via Interscope. Get it here.