Review: Rashmeet Kaur’s Rich Vocal Ability Outshines Production Hiccups on ‘KAURA’
The project at large is laborious in providing noteworthy star power features, it falls just short of its self-imposed mark in the production choices taken by the artist
Photo by Ravi Dixit
Like so many in the quickly growing genre of hip-hop music, 29-year-old classically trained vocalist Rashmeet Kaur is hungry for her permanence in the warmth of a continuous spotlight. Her debut full-length album, KAURA, is a cheeky portmanteau of the singer’s last name and the word “aura,” both of which are significant to the themes of her album. While the project at large is laborious in providing noteworthy star power features, it falls just short of its self-imposed mark in some of the production choices.
Upon speaking with Kaur in late 2023 for her Rolling Stone India cover story, she said that “as an artist, it’s a responsibility that you build your community; you bring everybody together and try to deliver something together, rather than just doing your own thing… Everybody is pretty much doing their own thing.” Immediately off the bat, KAURA sticks true to this ideal. The 12-track project boasts an astounding 15 features, with every track having a guest artist. From Delhi rappers like Seedhe Maut and IKKA to the French rapper and songwriter Tracy De Sa, this album offers an overwhelming amount of diversity.
The first two tracks on the project, “Haye Ri Duniya” and “Pyaar Ki Bahaar,” were all released before the launch of the album, with the latter even getting major traction off Meta’s 1-minute Music Pop-Up. It is in the remaining 10 tracks that Kaur truly gets to flex her collaboration muscles.
From the heartbreak ballad “Udd Jaana” with Wazir Patar to the anthemic “Sherni” with Simran Kaur Dhadli, KAURA refuses to come to a halt. This, unfortunately, also sets the album up to the adage “too many cooks spoil the broth.”
Towards the middle of the album’s track order, things begin to fall apart at the seam. The song “Bairi Piya” takes the album in a more lo-fi direction, with Rashmeet attempting to juxtapose her hefty classical tone against a slower, mellowed-down beat. While the vocal control that the singer possesses is spectacularly contained, the track at large begins to feel disjointed when featuring artist Fateh’s verse begins.
This pattern continues into the album, jarringly so with the faux-afro track “Bholay.” What Kaur makes up for in an admittedly flavorful vocal melody is that the song at large feels a little dated and repetitive. Largely due to the confusing arrangement, with Kaur’s vocals placed alongside the clickety hi-hats. Perhaps to mimic the more “afrobeat” style that this song is going for.
The track “Mehenga” with Seedhe Maut is really where this album takes a dip in quality. It begins with a glitch-core instrumental loop that not only feels out of place with the rest of the project but also sets the entire song up for a crescendo that never comes. Again, while Rashmeet’s vocals are impressive, it’s on this song where the eccentric production choices come to the fore.
It is only towards the end of KAURA that the Punjabi musician displays her true mastery, especially on the tracks “Bediyan” and “Fly So High.” The success of a feature can largely be attributed to how much value a featuring artist is adding to the song’s overall composition. Choosing to have the multilingual combination of North East rapper Daiaphi Lamare aka Reble and Tracy De Sa was perhaps the best decision for KAURA. The fierce vocal delivery from all three artists, coupled with the easily palatable trap beat, makes for one hell of an earworm.
My favorite track on the project is undoubtedly “Fly So High” with Tamilian rapper Arivarasu Kalainesan aka Arivu. The title is a testament to the aspirations that Kaur clearly possesses—one of a larger-than-life presence in not just her personality but also in her musical identity. This song is the perfect embodiment of that; her singing feels operatic and heavenly, matched perfectly with Arivu’s combative verse.
What KAURA does well is that it reflects Rashmeet Kaur’s hunger to push her craft further. Kaur’s unmatched vocal abilities have catapulted her to the top of her league, with this album being an attempt to shift gears into newer regions. A project of this magnitude, which is attempting to reconcile cerebral themes of self-identity and power, requires a decisive hand. However, the overwhelming amount of features, coupled with elements of production and beat selection that come across as haphazard, make for an overall misaligned listening experience.
KAURA is out on all streaming platforms.
