Cookiee Kawaii - Club Soda Vol. 2 [EP Review]
The arrival of TikTok breakout star Cookie Kawaii’s EP, ‘Club Soda Vol 2’, yanks the high-energy sounds of Jersey club music into the spotlight.
Characterised by a frenetic bass line, triplet kick drum patterns and frenzied sampling, Jersey club might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but its bouncy rhythms and invigorating intensity mean that even non-Jersey boogiers and beat addicts alike are drawn to the genre. An offshoot of the house and hip-hop inspired Baltimore club music of the late 1980’s, it fully emerged in the early 2000’s and has since grown far beyond its Newark stomping ground and slipped into the mainstream, influencing artists like Drake, Cashmere Cat, Skrillex and DJ Khaled.
In February of this year, Cookiee Kawaii (real name Vanice Palmer) surprised herself by unexpectedly soaring to prominence when her song ‘Vibe’, a hyperactive dance track packed with flirtatious lyrics and samples of whips, squawks and squeaks, went viral on TikTok. The track has now reached a whopping 75 million cumulative streams. Cookiee has made the most of this massive moment by releasing ‘Club Soda Vol. 2’, a reintroduction of sorts that follows her pre- ‘Vibe’ mixtape, ‘Club Soda Vol. 1’, offering up 10 intoxicating, twerk-friendly jams, including two versions of ‘Vibe’ with one featuring rap artist Tyga. Though most people are still unfamiliar with the music of New Jersey’s club scene, Cookiee Kawaii, an Irvington girl with a fiery determination to show the world the addictive brilliance of her home state’s dance music, might have just changed the game.
Naming herself after her love for biscuity treats and anime, Cookiee Kawaii’s music is just as fun, quirky and deliciously indulgent as her moniker might suggest. The hyperactivity and cartoonish, raunchy sound effects can take some getting used to for newbies, but the novelty becomes the norm pretty quickly. Effortlessly flipping between singing and rapping, her cheeky one-liners and sharp calls to “throw it back” “make it pop!” and “drop that kitty down low” in her honeyed tones are persuasive. It’s near impossible not to move to the snapping, propulsive beat - a consistent presence throughout the EP - as instructed.
Cookiee melds aspects of hip-hop, R&B, trap and house into her addictive beats, deftly delivering flirtatious bars in that sultry voice, amping up an already charged atmosphere. Even when tracks start off a little more low-key, restrained even, those Jersey Club samples and intense rhythms are never really out of sight. ‘Rather Be’ is the smoothest offering from the EP, beginning with shimmering keys and Cookiee singing in gossamer vocals, but soon enough there’s a flurry of beats, some more of those squawks and whips and Cookiee rapping at high-speed overtop. Though she likes to return to familiar rhythms, motifs and samples, Cookiee has a natural ear for innovation. ‘She’s From Jersey’ for example, has a calming lo-fi piano melody that contrasts drastically with the jerky beats, brash sound-effects and chopped up vocals which whirl all around it, but in Cookiee’s eclectic world, anything goes, and in her hands, it just works.
‘Club Soda Vol. 2’ is exciting, fun and a little bit mad. This is hype music that aims, above anything else, to get people moving. It’s a huge shame then, that the EP’s release comes at a time when the clubs remain closed. Let’s hope that Cookiee maintains her momentum so we can enjoy her music as we should - crammed together, slightly drunk and sticky with sweat!