Being a dope MC in the modern Hip Hop world is different than it used to be. You need to have good social media numbers, always be out creating content, and get a lot of publicity at the same time. Music has become kind of secondary nowadays. Think Kanye’s last two album rollouts.

One of the things that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle is actually being a dope MC. That means being able to take the listener on a journey to a different time and place. Awich, the self-anointed Far East Queen, does just this on her contemplative track ‘Queendom,’ from her 13-track album of the same name.

In ‘Queendom,’ Awich goes back to a time when she was in Atlanta in 2006. She got caught up with some Trap boys and was even studying next to them doing their work. Her lover was in and out of jail and got released three days before she had their child. Unfortunately, her baby daddy was shot dead in the street and Awich was left on her own to raise their child. Her last memory of him was saying, “Daddy is here, right?” to their daughter.

For two minutes, listeners hang onto Awich’s words as she explains these things that happened in her life. While the beginning is sorrowful, it’s a buildup to what she is today. For the final minute and a half, Awich turns ‘Queendom’ into a powerful anthem about not forgetting about where you have been, but also not letting that define you. On the chorus, she chants, “One with my brain I make a whole lotta money/Two with my voice I bring forth a lot of power/Three with my body I accept all the respect/For the freedom/This is my Queendom.”

The video for ‘Queendom’ is interspersed with shots of her daughter growing up, the love she lost, and from the middle on, her crew of family and friends that support everything she does. It’s a powerful ode to new beginnings and how rebirth can happen as long as you put your mind to it. By being so reflective, ‘Queendom’ shows that without a doubt, Awich is one of the dopest MCs in the Asian Hip Hop game.

Watch ‘Queendom’ and stream Awich's Queendom album below.