TITLE: MY OWN BOSS

ARTIST: YAYOI DAIMON

RELEASE DATE: January 25 2022

RATING: 8.8

With some extra pep in her step and swagger in her voice, Yayoi Daimon reintroduces herself to the world as an independent artist in her first project for 2022, the five-track EP, MY OWN BOSS. She left the comforts and convenience of a major label to be out on her own and create without fear. Yayoi’s motto is ‘We’re our own boss,’ and she lives that way to the fullest by unapologetically inspiring women to be proud, unique, and strong - something that is especially hard in the male-dominated Japanese culture.

In a press release, Yayoi states, “Last year, I parted ways with the label that I was with for several years. I was afraid to stand by myself for a long time. But I have my friends, family, team, and fans with me. I knew that by taking a step forward, I could be happy.”

MY OWN BOSS starts off on the right foot with a party jam, the Latin-tinged ‘Sin Miedo.’ It’s easy to imagine Yayoi ripping up that old contract in the studio and recording this because the joy and happiness seep through the bilingual celebration. The second song, ‘M.O.B’ featuring JNKMN, slows things down a bit but is fully about female empowerment as MOB stands for My Own Boss. Yayoi relinquishes the first verse to JNKMN, but this is totally her song as she wants ladies to understand that they can do things on their own terms. This song in particular would do well at her live shows with some call and response to the ladies in the house on the chorus.

The next two songs, ‘Top Gyal’ and ‘Chill Like a Midnight’ have already been released, but still sound fresh as ever. ‘Top Gyal’ shows Yayoi is not gonna stand around a Dancehall cypher and wait for an invite to join. Instead, she’s gonna step to every rude boy in the place and show them what she’s got. ‘Chill Like a Midnight’ adds some light and airy grooves on top of Afrobeats drums and lets her fans know that even when she’s chilling, she’s making forward-thinking music.

The final track is ‘KING,’ a story about finding true love, growing stronger from it, and being OK with it when that love has ended because she is now a “powerful, independent woman.” The drums are choppy and it fits right in Yayoi’s wheelhouse in the middle of Latin, Dancehall, and Afrobeats’ groove.

Overall, all five tracks are very right now. They sound great at home chilling, in a car on the way to a night out with the ladies, or blasting out of a sound system at a grimy basement nightclub at 4 am. Yayoi Daimon is showing why she wanted and deserved her independence with this boundary-breaking EP, MY OWN BOSS.

Check out the teaser video and listen to Yayoi Daimon’s MY OWN BOSS below.