Inaugural Complex Philippines Council member and 88rising/PARADISE RISING affiliated artist CA Christian Alexander is back with a new release. “Right Back” is a seven track mini R&B album that features a curated selection of both old and new songs from the NYC native and currently Manila-based lyricist/songwriter.
Sonically, “Right Back” showcases CA’s signature songwriting talents and his ear for catchy melodies, caption worthy lyrics, and playback worthy punchlines. Throughout the project, the Filipino-American musician seamlessly switches between rapping and singing, sometimes even on the same track.
“I took most of 2022 off from rapping. To be honest, I attended 88rising’s HITC Festival as an audience member in December 2022 and that experience of being surrounded by my peers is what really sparked a fire in me to make music again. For the next few weeks, I turned to music as my creative outlet again and we packaged some of the new songs that I was excited about with some unreleased songs I had in my vault so that they wouldn’t go to waste.”
“Right Back” also introduces a more vulnerable side to the self-proclaimed “Black Hearts” artist. The 20-minute playlist narrates a theme all too familiar to “relationships” in 2023: on and off situationships, toxicity, trust issues, vice-fueled lust and intimacy, and more.
“I can’t cap in my raps. All of my songs are always inspired by true stories based on real experiences. For me, ‘Right Back’ is the perfect title for this body of work because: I took a year off from music and I got right back to it, the narrative of project from the first song (‘DNS’) to the last song (‘SPF’) is a cycle, and on the five newer songs on the project I talk about a situation that I just kept finding myself getting right back into.”
CA
One of the clear standout records on “Right Back” is “Sides” with Kiana V, the album’s lone guest appearance. The song features the two PARADISE RISING alumni acts collaborating on a track that’s definitely giving classic 2000s R&B vibes. In true Y2K fashion, both artists even share a back and forth segment to end the track.
Another standout record is the title track “Right Back,” CA floats on the wavy beach-inspired production before performing our favorite chorus on the album: “Let me tell you sumn / Girls just wanna have fun / Girls just wanna get drunk / On the weekends, we can 100 on the freeway, yeah / Money on the way, he say, she say, yeah / City where the team stay, everybody eats, yeah yeah.”
In addition to these two tracks, “Right Back” also features a popular South Border sample on the appropriately titled “OPM Freestyle (Interlude).” “South Border’s ‘Rainbow’ was one of my favorite OPM songs growing up and I had the idea to sample the track in 2020 and Gelo was able to bring my vision to life,” CA shared. “This track means a lot to me because it’s important to me as a Filipino-American living in Manila to pay homage to the music and culture here.”
“I’m calling ‘Right Back’ an archive because it’s a capsule collection of both old songs and new songs that I felt fit a specific theme, vibe, and story. I made five of the songs in a six week span from late December to early February after being inspired by new life experiences. One of my goals for my personal growth in 2023 was to not overthink too much and to be more vulnerable and open with my emotions, and what’s a better way to stand by that than by sharing new music with the world?”
CA
“Right Back” also included “No Complications” is a fun song where the smooth songwriter flexes his ‘w rizz,’ while the contrasting “No Title” serves as the perfect canvas for the MC to deliver his hardest hitting rap verses on the tape. The intro (“DNS”) acts as a trippy leadoff track to start off the project sonically and the outro (“SPF”) serves as an upbeat Afrobeats inspired vibe that finds the artist right back in the nightlife looking for company.
ABOUT CA
CA Christian Alexander is one of the most sought out names in the global Filipino music scene. The NYC native and currently Manila-based lyricist/songwriter has earned a reputation for his versatility in the Rap and R&B genres due to his ear for catchy melodies, caption worthy lyrics, and playback producing punchlines.
Since moving to the Philippines, the artist’s talent has been recognized and co-signed by some of the biggest names in the industry. For example, CA has previously been featured in 88rising’s PARADISE RISING “semilucent 2” EP and the inaugural Complex Council class recently launched by Complex Philippines. Christian Alexander is one of the pioneers bridging the gap between the Philippines and the world.
“I almost retired from music in 2022 and throughout that whole experience, all I could think about was all of the unreleased songs that I never dropped. Now that I’m back to making music, one of my goals is to share as much of my art with the world as possible and hopefully I can inspire others to do the same.”
CA Christian Alexander plans to release music all of 2023, starting with “Right Back,” a mini R&B album released March, 16 2023.
