Gird up your loins for excellence! Recently signed to the Monocentric/ONErpm label, Ashley Delima unleashes her new music video on CelebMix. Entitled “Cigarette,” the song was co-written by Delima, Brielle Brown, and two-time Grammy winner Marc Swersky. The song features the talents of hip-hop’s $tandard.
Delima burst onto the scene with her debut single “Stay In America,” which not only made her the poster-girl for DACA, but accumulated 50,000 streams, and merited endorsements with GAP and Mac Cosmetics. “Stay In America” was Delima’s musical response to her family’s immigration ordeal, during which she almost gave up. Yet in the end, she persisted because of her dream.
According to Delima, “As an artist, I never wanted to be like everyone else. I wanted to be different in a positive way. I always want to be real, never settling into a safe zone so that I could tell the truth in my music. I don’t want to be quiet about something I think is wrong.”
Delima’s ascension to diva status began early on. At the age of three, she was already emulating Britney Spears and Shakira, dressing like a pop star and singing on her Barbie karaoke machine. Saving her money, she laid down tracks and informed locals DJs of her upcoming concerts, where she performed for sizeable audiences.
The girlish dreams became reality. Now she’s on a label and working on her EP, Young & Unafraid, slated to drop in early 2019. The EP features a who’s who of musicians, including Daniel Sadownick (percussion), Vin Landolfi (guitar), Eli Menezes (guitar), Alan Markley (piano), and Adam Jackson (drums).
Grammy winning songwriter-producer Swersky describes Delima, saying, “The qualities that stuck out were her charisma, her passion, the fire in her eyes, and then her incredible talent when she finally sang for me.”
“Cigarette” opens with an edgy guitar atop a throbbing rhythm full of dark, wicked energy. The measured vibration of the pop melody thrums with lethal imminent colors, as well as heavy infectious savors, like an implacable force brooding over inscrutable intentions.
Delima’s voice oozes intoxicating smoky flavors of sumptuous femme fatale tones suffused with nuances of gorgeous opacity. The lyrics coruscate with brilliant allusions and polished turns of phrase about the toxic effects of smoking. $tandard’s low-slung tones infuse the tune with a skintight rapping intensity, adding to the provocative feel of the music.
“Cigarette” exudes an impressive, dark structure of pulsating overpowering harmonics, impishly alluring yet simultaneously menacing. Ashley Delima’s delivery, cadence, and timbre are beyond awesome.