North Carolina rap phenom TiaCorine follows up her bold new album, CORINIAN, with a reality-bending music video for the single “Lotion” featuring Alabama star Flo Milli and production by Kenny Beats. Upbeat and chock full of lyrical flexes, the track embodies the irrepressible and unpredictable energy of the LP. Watch HERE.
“Lotion” puts Tia’s brash, style-shifting confidence on full display. The song is a blistering ’80s freestyle throwback complete with keyboard percussion, rubbery bass, and stuttering drums, but our heroine struts over the sweat-inducing beat with athletic ease: “Now this is how it goes for ones who don’t know / So I came from the Tre with thugs and fake hoes / Glitz, glamor, fashion, gold is all ya girl know / But I came from the bottom and chose the high road.”
Directed by Dell Nie (Ty Dolla $ign, Bia, Saweetie), the “Lotion” video is bright, cinematic, and surreal. Extending CORINIAN’s otherworldly theme, it opens on a pink moon before we’re transported to Tia’s very kawaii-coded bedroom. She starts her day normally enough: primping, applying lotion, stretching — before she’s interrupted by a knock at the door. A confrontation with three unwelcome women ends when Tia twists her fingers, reducing them to Barbie-like dolls. After a cameo from Unghetto, Flo Milli shows up and accompanies Tia to a house party, where the pair spit bars and spread joy while finding time to torment the toys on the side.
Since dropping in October, CORINIAN, which also features Saweetie, Wiz Khalifa, Smino, J.I.D, and Pouya, has racked up much acclaim. Pitchfork added the set to their Albums You Should Listen to Now list and, in a separate review, noted, “The North Carolina rapper keeps things unpredictable on a playful, hard-hitting album, [a] daring project that never slows down.” Following a glossy multi-page feature in HYPETRAK Magazine, HYPEBEAST wrote, “TiaCorine takes on her fully realized final form… The final chapter of her world-building trilogy proves her most polished, honed-in project to date.” And Rolling Out added, “Bold and inventive from start to finish, [CORINIAN] reinforces her place as one of the most creative voices in new music.”
The “Lotion” clip is only the latest in a series of wild, psychedelic visuals to emerge from CORINIAN. Most recently, Tia shared the chaotic chase flick for the booming “Backyard” featuring J.I.D. Before that came the romantic round-the-way visual for “Fall in Love” and “Ironic,” a trippy track that got a fittingly far-out video courtesy of Lyrical Lemonade. Meanwhile, the drill-meets-ballroom club cut “ATE” came with a distinct video version that includes vogue performances and musical contributions from Jus10 and Byrell The Great. She also shared the prismatic “Different Color Stones,” and a vivid, anime-inspired album trailer.
As Tia has explained, CORINIAN is the third release in a trilogy that includes her 2022 debut album I Can’t Wait and 2024’s Almost There EP: “If you pay attention to the artwork of the projects, you can see a pink aura in the background,” she noted upon the LP’s release, referring to a futuristic city that gets closer with each release. “That place is everything Tia wanted to be. Now I’m here. There’s no fear. No doubt. No second-guessing. I’ve reached my final form.”
The album release followed a series of anticipation-building moments from Tia, who appeared on Chance the Rapper’s celebrated STAR LINE album via the song “Gun in Yo Purse” featuring Young Thug; headlined Charlotte, NC’s Durag Festival before hitting The Lyrical Lemonade Summer Smash in Chicago the very next day; and, in October, played the Atlanime Fest in Atlanta’s Center Parc Stadium, where she also debuted her new Impossible Girl manga.
This year, Tia’s breakout hit “FreakyT” also attained RIAA-certified Gold status. Upon arrival in 2022, the fiery flex-fest inspired a viral dance trend and soared up the Urban Mainstream and Billboard Hip Hop/R&B charts. Her momentum grew across 2023, when she made the XXL Freshman Class and scored “Artist to Watch” nods from Rolling Stone, COMPLEX, Pigeons & Planes, Zane Lowe, and more. Cosigns from the likes of Drake and Gangsta Boo followed, as did festival appearances including Dreamville, Rolling Loud, and Coachella, searing collabs like “HOT ONE” with Denzel Curry and ASAP Ferg, and — last year — Tia’s first headlining tour.
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Photo Credit: Scrill Davis
