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Possessing one of the smoothest voices coming out of the legendary music hub that is Houston, Texas Alaina Castillo is making another splash with her new single ocean waves. She’s unquestionably the next big female artist to blow and since just October of 2019 she has generated nearly a million monthly listeners and gained around 150K loyal Instagram followers. With the rise of R&B back on the horizon, the exponential growth in popularity of Latin music, and the ever encompassing female takeover in the entertainment industry we expect huge things very soon. Her voice is hypnotizing, as is the sonics of her instrumentals, imploring listeners to forget that the ‘next’ button is even there at all.
Less than a year ago, you could look up Alaina and find her doing Youtube covers of another female icon in Billie Eilish. Flash forward to the present and you can catch her opening for Billie at sold out arenas on a nightly basis. This young woman is making a name for herself and has come further in just a year than most do in an entire career. With four songs passing a million plays on Spotify while ocean waves has passed 450K in less than a week, she’s done it all while signed to Chosen People, a smaller label without the funding that a more traditional record company may have, yet clearly the dedication to get her to the same superstardom level despite having less resources than the major labels have to offer.
Diving into the music, Alaina released her first single i don't think i love you anymore this past October. Written by herself and Sam Roman, as well as produced by ROMANS, the debut single has totaled near 4 million streams on Spotify to date while putting Alaina’s greatest gift on display, her voice. Laced with an incredible range of vocals, powerful lyrics, and a unique alternative pop vibe it's as if Alaina takes you to another dimension as you listen.
Only a month later, she released her first EP entitled antisocial butterfly that showcased six songs, with four of them twisting from Latin to English. The EP went in a different direction than her first single, in fact, the beats were much more vibrant, upbeat, and tuned up, rather than slower and more vibey. You can see the absolute transformation and versatility on display from language, to tone, and message leaving something for everyone to enjoy.
In 2020 so far, she has gifted us two singles with one being valentine’s day which has Alaina wishing to “treat you like it's Valentine’s Day.” A happy song where she is in love and loves being in love. Ocean Waves, being the other of the two 2020 singles, on the other hand has a much slower, intense beat that describes her lover as the ocean. Hoping the “waves crash over” her and suffocate her in it, she wants to be totally consumed in this love for its good and bad. Her lyrical capabilities throughout the entirety of the song is fairly amazing making it favorite piece of work by her to date. With this strong start to 2020 and respect from her peers like Billie and others, I see Alaina filling that arena with her name on the top of the bill sooner rather than later.
Go be one of the first of your friends to check her out and give her a follow @alaina_castillo on Instagram, and as always stay on top of the come up’s with us on all social media platforms @engmtcent as well!