Kaash Paige Narrates The Trials of Youth on Teenage Fever
At just a tender 19 years of age, R&B genre bending artist Kaash Paige (Kill All Arrogance, Stop Hatred is the acronym) has mastered the art of creating concepts and bringing them to life from start to finish and everything in between. She proves that she’s an artful, sultry and crafty storyteller with her debut album from the Roc Nation label, Teenage Fever.
Originally from the dirty South of Dallas, TX, Kaash (real name D’Kyla Paige Woolen) began singing and songwriting in high school, uploading songs to SoundCloud. Her first song, “Love Songs,” was a viral hit and gained notoriety, so she followed that up with her first EP, Parked Car Convos in November 2019, a sexy, late night R&B romp that revolves around deep musings you only get while riding around and unearthing via the art of conversation.
Now, with her debut album Teenage Fever that dropped in early August, Kaash has proved that she is an innovative artist who is skilled in building masterfully themed musical projects with songs that tell sub topic stories within that theme. From idea to conception, it’s a flawless project that shines from the intro to the outro.
The album opens with London- a dreamy, echo-filled song that starts out with Kaash Paige asking her lover “Did you miss me enough to drink/Or did you drink enough to miss me?” It’s both a bold statement and Instagram caption in one, with the song turning into an upbeat ditty about placing love on the back burner with the occasional thought while she’s out partying and pouring up.
Teenage Fever is an anecdotal diary that chronicles the typical teenage woes and questions that plague that period of growth: success, love, sex, life path, material wealth, mental health and more. The foundation of the album is needing love, validation and direction.
“Grammy Week” is a glittery, base heavy tune with singer/songwriter Don Tolliver crooning about success- Kaash joins in talking about all the material accolades that come with fame and how she desires them.
“Lost Ones” is a rock flavored tune that’s easy, flossy and carefree talking about the rock lifestyle, detailing daydream musings about a crush.
“Soul Ties” is an airy guitar strumming filled melody displaying the bond between two lovers, while the riffed out “Fake Love” with rapper 42 Dugg narrates the absence of support and guidance in her life, an earnest battle cry of help in the way only teenagers can make. “Even my family don’t understand me'/Even my homies still don’t got a plan B,” she belts.
Throughout the album, Kaash’s underlying main crux is the unexplored disenheartenment and aches of love in various forms. On “Friends,” she details the toxicity of a one sided relationship and not being able to be just friends. “Friends/Without the Benz/I dont even know what that is/Look who I’m fuckin’ again,” she suggests on the track. Kaash’s naivete shines through as she learns that intimacy doesn’t always equal exclusivity, further alluding to the album’s title.
Other sleeper hits include “Break Up Song” ft K. Camp, where Kaash gets personal and cold while singing about a relationship turned sour, “Pull Up" which is a sleek, slow urban bop that has Kaash flirting and inviting her crush to come get smoked out and talk in her car, “Problems” ft Isaiah Rashad flipping the beat with his verse has Kaash listing her flaws and inconsistencies and soul searching, and “SOS” lets listeners float on a summer into fall transitional track as Kaash asks questions about insecurities and unsure plans.
The final two tracks, “Mrs. Lonely” and “Karma” are two of the most interesting ones.
“Mrs. Lonely” is a very melancholy, matter of fact song that has Kaash yearning for love while also describing her aloofness in the meantime; her loneliness, missing her lover (or previous romantic situation) coupled with random thoughts and actions to fil the void make this a classic soundtrack for today’s distracted and blase’ teenage stages, while “Karma” serves as the outro.
“You are now entering to Teenage Fever/Which is where all the teenagers go through a stage of life/Bein' unnatural and not knowin' what's really goin' on
That means depression/Relationships, love, hate, drugs/And everything
Can you feel it?” asks Kaash over a guitar and violin heavy orchestra like buildup to a soft beat drop. The song is very outerworldy, almost intergalactic as Kaash sings about karma like an old friend but also as a third person or alter ego. The song also could’ve served well as an intro.
Overall, Teenage Fever is a well crafted debut that successfully encapsulates what it means to be a teenager and expend those particular in between adulthood and childhood emotions that high schoolers and early college kids face as they grow to navigate adult problems while still a kid. It’s rich, vibrant and diverse- I didn’t find any song I wanted to skip. It’s an album you play on the highway late at night driving home from work or an engagement and you have a range of feelings, or just mixed up and need an outlet. This is a solid foray into the growth of Kaash Paige as a storyteller and female future of genre-twisting R&B as a youth. She’s absolutely someone to keep on your radar.