Chances are you haven't yet heard of US-born, London-based indie pop singer/rapper Ashnikko (real name Ashton Casey) but mark our words, once you do you'll absolutely froth on her badass attitude, feminist tunes, anime-influenced aesthetic, explosive rap flow and industrial beats.
The alt-rap rising star just dropped her Hi It's Me EP and its lead single is what's gotten our attention. Aside from the song being a total banger, it's a break-up anthem for those of us who need a future, more mature version of ourself to tell us, "Repeat after me: I'm over it! We're so over over!"
The video is also like nothing we've seen before - featuring Ashnikko kidnapping herself with a team of masked dancing weirdos, it's equal parts creepy and cool, and matches the sonic diversity of the song itself. There's stripped back a capella vocals and then there's huge stomping bass beats. We're obsessed.
So who is Ashnikko?
The rebellious singer/rapper was born in North Carolina but was shipped off to Estonia and Latvia for her teen years, where she sought solace in creating music when she was the only American student in her school. Growing up on country music in her youth, she broke free and started to focus on sex-positive, feminist musicians like M.I.A., Bjork and Nicki Minaj by moving to London at 18, allowing that to feed creation of music with a punk attitude and fused with hip hop energy.
With a strong artistic vision, Ashnikko conceptualises many of her music videos and even brings a futuristic, fantasy-style pixie/alien vibe to her stage shows and outfits. Think bondage-inspired tops, combat boots and bright blue hair like an anime character.
She finds inspiration in empowering artists like Paramore, Cardi B, SZA and Charli XCX and she practices what she preaches too - Ashnikko says there's nothing more important than her fans feeling like they're killing it just by being who they are.
"I just want them to be able to sing my lyrics in their rooms and dance around in front of their mirrors and gain some sense empowerment," she tells AllAccess. "That is what music is to me and to be able to provide that same feeling of confidence to other people is the dream. Don’t compromise who you are. Being smooth and polished and cool is gross, I’m just winging it.
"I feel like its my duty as someone making music with intent to share it with the world to reflect my own personal values and morals in my lyrics. It’s all I’m good at so i want to make a positive impact. Music is going to change. People are going to be less tolerant of bullshit and fakery and the music industry is going to reflect that."
Ashnikko seems like the perfect antidote to all the glossy popstars around right now so we're absolutely here for Ashnikko and her no-bullshit music. We can't wait to see what she does next.
Listen to her Hi It's Me EP right now and pick up some Ashnikko merch here.
cop some merch from ashnikko here
