''Demidevil'' (stylized in

all caps In typography, all caps (short for "all capitals") refers to text or a font in which all letters are capital letters, for example: "THIS TEXT IS IN ALL CAPS". All caps may be used for emphasis (for a word or phrase). They are commonly seen in ...

) is the debut

mixtape A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

by American singer-songwriter and rapper

Ashnikko Ashton Nicole Casey (born February 19, 1996), known professionally as Ashnikko ( ), is an American singer, rapper, and songwriter. They rose to prominence with their 2019 single "Stupid" with (Yung) Baby Tate, which gained viral popularity on t ...

. It was released on January 15, 2021, through

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

and

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. The mixtape was supported by four singles: "

Cry Crying is the dropping of tears (or welling of tears in the eyes) in response to an emotional state, or pain. Emotions that can lead to crying include sadness, anger, and even happiness. The act of crying has been defined as "a complex secreto ...

" featuring

Grimes Claire Elise Boucher (; born March 17, 1988), known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her early work has been described as extending from "lo-fi R&B" to futuristic dance-pop, and has in ...

, " Daisy", "Deal with It" featuring

Kelis Kelis Rogers-Mora (; born August 21, 1979), known mononymously as Kelis, is an American singer, songwriter and a professionally trained chef. At age 14, she was admitted to New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Perform ...

, and "Slumber Party" featuring

Princess Nokia Destiny Nicole Frasqueri (born June 14, 1992), known professionally as Princess Nokia, is an American rapper and songwriter. She released her debut studio album, ''Metallic Butterfly'', in 2014, followed by the 2015 mixtape ''Honeysuckle''. As P ...

Background

Following the release of her 2019 EP, ''Hi It's Me'', Ashnikko would return with the single "Tantrum" on March 6, 2020. Originally intended as the lead single for the mixtape, the song would later be demoted to a stand-alone single. The "DemiDevil" character was first portrayed in the "Tantrum" music video alongside Ashnikko herself and another character titled "Little Blue". The latter would later be revealed as a song title on the mixtape. Album track "Clitoris! The Musical" was first featured in the video "ASH WEDNESDAY 2020". Ashnikko first teased the mixtape in a series of videos in which she is gradually turning into her "demidevil"

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

. The last of the three videos revealed the cover art, tracklist and release date for the mixtape. Ashnikko coincidingly, officially announced the mixtape on August 28, 2020, via her social media platforms. ''Demidevil'' was met with several delays before its release. An initial date for October 9, 2020 was announced in August earlier that year. The mixtape then suffered its first delay in September due to "shipping delays" and other unknown reasons. The mixtape was then intended for a November 13 release. A second delay was announced in October 2020, with the mixtape having a scheduled release for February 19, 2021. In early 2021, Warner Music Group's merchandise team accidentally shipped out orders including physical copies of the mixtape earlier than its February 19th release. Following this error, Ashnikko would reveal a new date for the mixtape, January 15, 2021.

Composition

''Demidevil'' is a pop and pop-trap album that takes influence from R&B, hip hop,

pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...

electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...

, and

hyperpop Hyperpop is a loosely-defined music movement and microgenre that predominantly originated in the United Kingdom during the early-to-mid 2010s. It is characterized by a maximalist or exaggerated take on popular music, and artists within the genr ...

Singles

The lead single from ''Demidevil'', "

", was released on June 17, 2020, and features Canadian musician

. An animated music video was premiered alongside the track's release. This video would later be nominated at the

UK Music Video Awards The UK Music Video Awards is an annual celebration of creativity, technical excellence and innovation in music video and moving image for music. The awards began in 2008. There is a wide range of opportunities for UK individuals and companies to ...

in the category of "Best Pop Video - UK". The opening track, " Daisy" was released as the mixtape's second single on July 9, 2020. A music video in collaboration with

Beats Electronics Beats Electronics LLC (also known as Beats by Dr. Dre, or simply Beats by Dre) is an American consumer audio products manufacturer headquartered in Culver City, California. The company was founded by music producer Dr. Dre and record company exe ...

and

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

was released on August 7, 2020. Commercially, "Daisy" peaked at #24 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, becoming her first charting and first top 40 hit in the United Kingdom. The song also peaked at #3 on the ''Billboard''

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart, becoming her second entry on the chart after "

Stupid Stupidity is a lack of intelligence, understanding, reason, or wit. It may be innate, assumed or reactive. The word ''stupid'' comes from the Latin word ''stupere''. Stupid characters are often used for comedy in fictional stories. Walter B ...

". After being teased a day before its release, "Deal with It" featuring American singer

was released as the mixtape's third single on January 12, 2021. It premiered on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

and its music video was released along with the song's widespread release. With less than 3 days of tracking, the single charted at #84 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming her second ever charting track in the United Kingdom. "Slumber Party" featuring American rapper

was released as the fourth single on April 23, 2021, after achieving viral success on

. The song would be performed on the

Late Night with Seth Meyers ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' is an American late-night news and political satire talk show hosted by Seth Meyers on NBC. The show premiered on February 24, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. Airing weeknights a ...

show on April 30, 2021. A music video was released on May 13, 2021.

Critical reception

''Demidevil'' received positive reviews from contemporary

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, a website that

aggregates reviews A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

of music albums, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

score of 74, based on 9 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". El Hunt of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' wrote that Ashnikko's "first real body of work builds on the early hype, and draws from a far wider pot of musical influences than before:

Nu-metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu m ...

pop-punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...

The Neptunes The Neptunes are an American songwriting and production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provides additional vocals on records and appears in the duo's music videos, ...

-esque production tricks and campy

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

", and concluded that the record "shows that

he is He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

far more than a two-trend wonder – with a tank full of intriguing bangers that evade living under ' Daisy's formidable shadow." Reviewing the album for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Fred Thomas stated that "The project's ten tracks nicely mix Ashnikko's enormous personality and brazen confidence with infectious pop-trap production and hints of early-2000s nostalgia that range from subtle to overt." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' included the album on their list of the best albums of the first half of 2021.

Commercial performance

''Demidevil'' debuted at number 107 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. It also debuted at number one on the US

Heatseekers Albums Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

( ''Billboard''). In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number 19 on the

UK Albums The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

( OCC). Overall, the album debuted in seven countries including Canada.

Track listing

Notes * signifies an additional producer. * "Deal with It" samples the song "

Caught Out There "Caught Out There" is a song recorded by American singer Kelis for her debut studio album ''Kaleidoscope'' (1999). Written and produced by The Neptunes, the song was released as the album's lead single in the United States on October 5, 1999. It ...

" as performed by

and written by

Chad Hugo Charles Edward Hugo (born February 24, 1974) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. With close friend Pharrell Williams, he formed the production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he has prod ...

and

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

. * "L8r Boi" interpolates the song "

Sk8er Boi "Sk8er Boi" (pronounced "skater boy") is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne, released as the second single from her debut album, '' Let Go'' (2002). It was written by Lavigne and the Matrix (Scott Spock, Lauren Christy, and Graham ...

" as performed by

Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. At age 16, she signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, ''Let Go (Avril Lavigne album), Let Go'' (2002), is the ...

and written by Lavigne,

Lauren Christy Lauren Christy is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. Originally a solo artist, she found success as part of the writing production trio The Matrix. The Matrix received numerous Grammy nominations including best producer. Biogr ...

, Scott Alspach and Graham Edwards.

Personnel

Musicians *

– vocals * Slinger – drums, synthesizer (tracks 1–3, 8); backing vocals, keyboards (1–3);

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...

(1, 2), santur dulcimer (2), bells (3);

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, guitar, piano (8) *

Mark Crew Mark Crew (born 21 February 1985) is a songwriter, record producer, and mix engineer based in London, known for his work with Bastille, Rag'n'Bone Man, and the Wombats. Production and songwriting Crew produced the albums '' Bad Blood'' (UK #1 ...

– keyboards, programming (3) * Dan Priddy – keyboards, programming (3) *

– vocals (3) * CallMeTheKidd – keyboards, programming (4) *

– vocals (4) * Oscar Scheller – programming (5, 6, 9, 10); bass guitar, drums, synthesizer (5, 6, 9); keyboards (10) * Ebenezer – programming (7) *

– vocals (7) *

Andrew Goldstein Andrew Scott Goldstein (born March 25, 1983 in Milton, Massachusetts) is the first American male team-sport professional athlete to be openly gay during his playing career. He came out publicly in 2003 and was drafted by his hometown team, the ...

– guitar, keyboards, programming (8) * Marcus Andersson – acoustic guitar (9) Technical *

Chris Gehringer Chris Gehringer (born May 27, 1962) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered recordings such as Gwen Stefani's '' Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' (2004), Rihanna's '' Loud'' (2010), Lady Gaga's '' Born This Way'' (2011) and Drake' ...

– mastering (1–4, 6, 8–10) * John Greenham – mastering (5, 7) *

Mark "Spike" Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & The Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed She ...

– mixing (1, 3, 7, 8) * Stinger – mixing (2),

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

(3, 8) * CallMeTheKidd – mixing, engineering (4) * Oscar Scheller – mixing (5, 6, 9, 10) * Andrew Goldstein – engineering (3, 8) * Ebenezer – engineering (7) * Zukye Ardella – vocal engineering (4) * Matt Wolach – mixing assistance (1, 3, 7, 8)

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Ashnikko 2021 mixtape albums Ashnikko albums Debut mixtape albums Warner Records mixtape albums Parlophone mixtape albums Trap music albums Pop albums by American artists