Stage singing captivated Robinkss aka Robin Kang at the age of 8 and since then, she has been on the journey of self discovery to find her true artistic soul.
Influenced by Lady Gaga, Jessie J and SZA, the singer has been delving in different genres to produce the kind of content thst would resonate with everyone. Recently, she released her single “Crushed” and it shows Kang as an experimentalist in the making. Thematically, a love song, “Crushed” depicts Kang’s perception on love and relationships.
The song is co-written with Tammy Infusino and Francis Kim (XIA, Snoop Doog), also her producer who has “helped me with a lot of my music journey. Francis was the one to really guide me toward developing my style and how I think about music,” Kang said.
CelebMix sat with the singer to discuss about her single and her musical vision. Check out the interview below:
Hi Robin! Can you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Hello! I’m Robin and I also go by my stage name Robinkss. I’m Korean American, my pronouns are she/her, and I’m a junior in high school.
How did the idea for the stage name Robinkss come about?
The stage name kind of happened when I was creating my Instagram username. I first wrote “Robink” (the K being the initial to my last name) but it was already taken. I added an “S” to see if it was available, it wasn’t. I added one more “S”, saw that it was available, and kept it ever since.
We have read about your upbringing as a musician. Please tell us more about your journey as a singer and songwriter.
I really internalize and overthink everything. I also never really say much about my internal problems or desires that much. So when I realized that my music was going out to the public, I started freaking out. Thoughts about what people think and how people at school would look at me. Basically, I was scaring myself. Unlike other times when I was performing piano on stage, this was more global, more accessible and available to public opinion. The way I got over this fear was by showing people my songs, asking for their opinion and coming to a realization that it’s completely fine if people don’t like my work. Right now, I’m working on improving my songwriting and the way I tell my stories. I’m still trying to find my sound and little by little I think I’m getting there.
Which singer and songwriter do you consider as your influences and why?
That…is hard. I will always mention SZA for her flow and storytelling. Her melody lines are so intricate and are never boring. She is amazing. Rihanna for the way she carries herself. She always stands tall and confident. Not to mention, her music will always be good, no matter how old it is. Billy Eilish is just dope. She’s the same age as me and she’s killing it.
While music is always is open to interpretation but you might be having a vision as to how would you like your fans to feel when they listen to your songs. If you do, please tell us a bit about it.
How I want my fans to feel…Good? Happy? Sad? Touched? I think it depends on what I’m talking about. But overall, I want them to feel like they can let themselves go and be themselves when they listen to my music. When I listen to music, it’s kind of like a safe haven and a place where I can let go of everything. I want people to feel that way when they listen to me too.
We would like to know about your song “Crushed”. For us, the title was really a catch as one can connote both negative and positive meaning to the term. Please tell us about the song and the creative process behind it.
Crushed does have both negative and positive connotations. I felt that the title reflected how I felt about love. You see movies and your friends in love and you see what love puts you through. Love can not only make you feel good and free, but it can also put you through hell. I wanted to write about how I feel about love and but also put a plot twist on it. Yes, I feel this way about love, but what if someone changed my mind? I was first inspired by a picture that said “crush” on it. It was a girl wearing regular clothes and a pink cap and she was on the floor in a crouched position. I don’t have the photo anymore but I saw the photo right before the session and this was the result.
Can we soon expect the music video for the single?
Yeah! Hopefully soon!
Would you like to share with us your future projects that you would want your fans to know about?
I’m making more music and my EP is still in the works. I really want to share it but it is still in the making. Please look forward to it!
What do you think about “Crushed”? Share your thoughts via tweet @CelebMix.