At Monmouth University, music surrounds us in so many ways. From Blue Hawk Records to MU Players, avenues for musical creativity are endless. So, it’s no surprise to find out that musicians and songwriters walk among us on this very campus. One of them is Ashley Zingillioglu, or you might know her as her stage name, Azure Kai.
Kai is a senior English major with a concentration in Creative Writing. As if being an English major isn’t enough work itself, she has not one, but three minors: computer science, communication sciences and disorders (speech pathology), and general management. While she’s super passionate about her studies, she’s also just as passionate about music.
Kai was first exposed to music at a young age when her mom introduced her to one of the greatest bands of all time, The Beatles.
“The first song I listened to by them was, ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ off their first album, ‘Please Please Me.’ You know, at that time, YouTube wasn’t as popular as it is today, so I had to go in and listen to the old CDs. Initially, I didn’t like it in the first three seconds, but then I got into it. And my mom could see the energy levels were there,” Kai said. It was the unique vocal styles of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison that made Kai realize that different artists can come together and create greatness. The Beatles were able to capture so many genres and experiment with their sound and artistry which is something Kai aims to imitate in her own music.
Kai’s songs “Don’t Hug My Mama,” “Offguard,” “Fine Wine,” and “On the Bus” are heavily influenced by R&B, funk, and hip-hop beats. The 90s sound like NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Chris Brown, and Justin Timberlake are always at the forefront of Kai’s mind when she’s creating. “I’ve learned to pinpoint what makes each artist unique and kind of take that into my own style. I’ll sing a song, right, in my mind, kind of emulating Chris Brown’s voice, but it’ll be a B2K beat or NSYNC beat with different kinds of voices going on in the background,” Kai said.
One of the most noticeable and distinct features, from the first note, are her vocals. A classified mezzo-soprano by Monmouth’s very own David Tripold, Professor and Director of Choral Activities Professor and Director of Choral Activities, Kai’s range is significantly deep, and has been since middle school choir. With an insane low range, she was always overlooked and passed over in comparison to her soprano classmates. The problem she ran into was there was no way to showcase herself in that setting because the vocal parts were sadly awarded to girls with higher ranges. “I would sing the male solo, and it would sound f*g good. But the only problem was the requirements for the tenor and bass solo was that you had to be a tenor or a bass. So even if I could sing those solos better than them, I wasn’t eligible to get the part. So eventually I just thought that, hey, maybe I’m not good at singing,” Kai explained.
That didn’t stop her from chasing music. She started officially songwriting in high school writing rap verses to and from basketball games on the bus. As she put it, while her friends were studying plays and getting in the zone for games, she was writing verses using free beats off the internet.
The hard work and determination of her youth seems to have paid off when it comes to the music she has released thus far. “Don’t Hug My Mama” which was featured on Blue Hawk Records 23rd Compilation album, “Open 24 Hours” is the most streamed song in BHR history with 144,287 streams and counting.
The aspect of Kai’s songs that people might not know is that they are based entirely on her short story world that she’s created in creative writing class. “Sometimes what students do in their portfolio’s is that they incorporate a series of stories that are different and turn it in. For me, I incorporate different stories but they’re all in the same world of characters that I’m building…I just decided to bring my characters from my short stories to life through the music,” Kai said. Whether she writes the story first or the song first completely depends on the inspiration at hand which can come from just about anywhere like feelings of annoyance. However, Kai makes it very clear that these songs are directly correlated to her short stories and are not to be taken in a literal sense. Her songwriting style is story narration, a genre that, in my opinion, needs to be explored.
The music invites you into the world of Kyle, an eighth grader trying to make his way through life. “On the Bus” tells the story of Kyle on his way to his middle school dance where he so desperately wants to impress the girl he likes. Kai’s unreleased song “Put Me In, Coach” is about Kyle trying to convince his basketball coach to give him a chance to show what he can do off the bench. I had the pleasure of listening to a sneak peek of “Put Me In, Coach” and it’s clever and enticing, using basketball elements (buzzer and bounce sounds) to add to the scenery of the world the song throws you into.
There’s nothing quite like listening to an artist that undeniably knows who they are and puts themself out there without fear. Like every growing artist, Kai is always working with different artists and producers like Max Wolf, who helps bring out the layers and structure that Kai lays out. Something Kai said that really stuck out was that songs are highly customizable to the artists because it’s based on their specific visions and tastes. Every single note, lyric, instrument, and beat drop is straight from that artist’s brain.
While Kai admitted that music is not something she intends to purse full-time after graduation, her brand and sense of artistry will follow her wherever she goes. For now, the name, Azure Kai seems to be racking up streams on Spotify regardless. Her music is something everyone should give a listen to, even if it’s not your go-to genre. You may end up with more appreciation for her style than you bargained for.
I’ll leave you with Kai’s words of wisdom for students in music, “If you’re looking to improve as an artist, you have to let listeners or people giving you feedback, you have to give them the space, to be honest…So instead of taking it as I suck, you can say, here’s the skills I need to learn, and the skills I don’t have. And then what classes or what people can I go to that will help me develop those skills? You’re in a university space. You have access to everything. You just got to open your mind to it.
