Karri Is My Artist to Watch in 2025

Welcome to Golden Dragon, a newsletter by Eric Diep about Asians in hip-hop and my takes on trending topics in AAPI pop culture. Golden Dragon is a rotation of interviews, reviews, news, critical perspectives, and random blogs about music I recommend.

• An interview with Karri! He talks about growing up in a Filipino household, getting into R&B through his older cousins, performing at Jack Harlow’s Gazebo Festival, and more.

I miss the heyday of music blogs. There was a rush behind being first on someone, listening to artists like Nickelus F and Fly Union before they got big. We would follow their journeys through mixtape releases and loose tracks, following blogs that got the exclusives. So when I was told to check out Karri in 2023 by an industry colleague of mine, it felt like I was in on something special before it blew up.

The 21-year-old singer, recently named Billboard’s R&B Rookie of the Month, had remained mysterious and rarely did interviews. He has shades of Brent Faiyaz, portraying a moody world with emotive and confessional lyrics. He’s part of a gang of new artists doing slow-grooving R&B, basing his songwriting on the “real” in a relationship, which means the realization that not everyone is who they seem after a bad breakup.

Last November, Karri dropped his first official EP, Late Nite Slider Music, a collection of low-slung songs for a sneaky link-up after 2 a.m. I loved “Impromptu,” “Vengeance,” and “415 to the 6“ because of how atmospheric they were, allowing Karri to show off his sweet falsetto. Karri’s music is for winter listening, helping you get through your melancholy.

Karri’s snippets on Instagram and TikTok have been good entries for his music. “Oakland Pt. 2” seems to be the one, earning him cosigns from Lil Baby, Jack Harlow, Saweetie, and others. Drake and Chubbs have been lending him a hand. He’s attracted fans by balancing the Bay Area’s relaxed, lo-fi approach with his appreciation of Toronto’s sound, making contemporary R&B threaded by connection. He has said a stylistic change is coming soon, promising more upbeat, turn-up songs to fuck up the streets.

Personally, Karri is my Artist to Watch in 2025. “I just feel like I really haven’t shown my whole sound,” he tells me. “We’ve been working really, really hard on transcending that sound and making a new sound that’s fresh to me and fresh to the people. I just feel like I have so much left to show for it in 2025.”

For my third Golden Dragon interview, Karri talked about singing karaoke in front of his family, putting songs together for Late Nite Slider Music, getting the stamp of approval by Lil Baby and Drake, and why “growth” is important to him right now. Stream Late Nite Slider Music on Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal, and read our conversation below.

Eric Diep: I want to start with your roots. How did your family get to the Bay Area?

Karri: I grew up in The Bay, but my family came from The Philippines. My mom moved when she was 19 years old. They moved to this house in the farthest part of San Francisco, in Brisbane, Daly City. That’s where I grew up my whole life. They came from The Philippines, so when they first came here, their life was kind of crazy and hectic. But [I’m] glad it all worked out.

How immersed were you in Filipino culture growing up?

Every single day we would do something related to Filipino culture. Whether it was eating, or the food they made, [we] always had to eat something with rice. Rice was a big thing in my house. Every day we would have the rice cooker going. [Laughs]