Karina

Move over, Mariah and Jennifer Lopez. There's a new hottie-with-a-set-of-pipes coming up those diva stairs and she's nipping at your high heels. Her name is Karina Pasian and she may not aim to shatter glass like Miss Carey and she's not a entrepreneurial queen like Miss Lopez, but she's armed to the teeth with the necessary ammo required to elevate herself to that lofty, coveted status in a few years. She's all of 16-years-old but she's spent her formative years studying your pop star playbooks. First Love, Karina struts her stuff, in a pair of Christian Loboutin stilettos, no doubt.

Karina isn't much different from Rihanna in that she sings about relatable subjects–the hood, heartbreak and the search for love. On the backyard thumper "Baby, Baby," Karina initiates the party with Lil' Mama, and the two bounce off each other like rubber and glue. "16 at War" is her heartfelt, if a bit treacly, ode to the youth of today. Even though she's signed to a major label, was discovered by Quincy Jones and is probably about to embark on a world tour and indulge in a lifestyle that most teenagers will never have a taste of, it's a grounded song with a groove that'll coil around you like a snake. She belts it out on "Winner," where she merely hints at her possible range and what's to come on future Karina records. She's got a sweet, yet tinny quality to her voice, and it's a trait that helps her to stand out among all those other pop goddesses with lesser voices that are trying to scratch and claw their well-manicured way to the top. First Love screams "the real deal" from her opening salvo to the final outro. The title track is a lush, soulful ballad that obscures the fact that Karina is a youngin' because she sure sings like a seasoned veteran who was enamored by the ladies that comprised En Vogue.

Expect to hear more from this girl in the months to come, if the music industry machine does right by her.

— Amy Sciarretto
09.11.08

Like Keke Palmer and Tiffany Evans, Dominican-American singer Karina (last name Pasian) is an antidote to fellow young female artists who value objectification over respect (or believe the two things are synonymous). The material on her debut, First Love -- following a successful run on Star Search and a bidding war between Bad Boy, Interscope, and victor Def Jam -- is age-appropriate, a rare thing from a teenaged major-label artist in 2008. Karina does not merely steer clear from language and subjects that would make a parent cringe; "16 @ War," a collaboration with Tricky Stewart and the-Dream, is a somber anthem that is almost processional in nature, with each line carrying weight, from "Ain't no daddies where I'm from, there's just mad mothers" to "To him I'm just a transaction." Most of the album deals in heartache and being in love, but Karina handles her suitors in ways that would make any mother proud. Take "Slow Motion," a pro-abstinence song that might have more of an effect than the average parent-child talk: "Don't wanna mess with your pride/The question's not when but why." Her maturity level is nearly a fault; First Love is nothing if not a serious album. Even during the few boisterous productions, she seems to be keeping herself in check to make sure she is not having too much fun, like she's in a hurry to be considered an adult artist who is above making a pop record -- an area where she could have taken cues from Palmer and Evans. Still, the album is as needed as Palmer's So Uncool and Tiffany Evans -- proud and smart, real and relatable, packed with substance. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide