9m88 is actually pronounced “Jo-m-baba” as you would do in Taiwan. 9m88 is actually a Taiwanese R&B singer, actress, and creative artist who was honed her musical chops at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York.
She won the best new artist in her home island when she released her debut album back in 2020, but also branched out into fashion and film. Now she’s back to music with her second album outing titled 9m88 Radio, which she explains as “a journey of tidying up my bedroom, healing my inner shadows, and returning to one’s own being.”
She switches between English and her native tongue throughout the project, and whether or not you may be able to understand everything she’s saying in all the songs, there’s no guessing where her modern take on R&B, the slow-burning kind is concerned. She has no problem coming up with some excellent sounds, including her high-quality vocals.
Yet, that modern R&B take is more a concept of touching base with other related genres like Bossa Nova, to make her sound both modern and fresh, and it is a kind of musical language any listener can understand and relate to.
No matter how 9m88 is doing as a fashion model or actress, her music has definite promise.
