Video: Demie Cao, ‘Rari’

Hanh Truong on August 7th, 2020

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Just like a superhero flying in with a cape, Demie Cao, also known as Demie the Destroyer, debuted her musical chops in the U.S. with swagger as her weapon. After releasing her first single, “Yung,” in the States in May, the singer-rapper quickly released a second song and video, “Sage,” along with another today, “Rari.”

Demie previously made waves with her official debut in China in 2019 with “Night Vision,” layering smooth Chinese and English raps to a trap hip-hop beat. The track ultimately catapulted Demie to Billboard Asia’s 2019 “Best of Rap: Urban Asia Volume 2.”

The Chinese-American artist, who was reared in Arcadia, started out by making covers of K-Pop songs on YouTube. She eventually signed with 5A LABEL in 2014, joining R&B artist Justin Park. But songwriting, singing and rapping are just some of her many talents. After graduating from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s in music business, she’s also been working with her record label as an A&R representative.

Demie’s seven-track debut EP, “Airplane Mode,” is set to be released later this year, and her singles are just snippets of her experimental style and lyricism.

“It’s really a song about growing up,” the artist says of “Yung.” “I wanted to celebrate my youth, but also present it as a melancholic anthem to my becoming an adult.”

The highlight of her recent releases is “Sage,” where Demie showcases her eclectic style, as if that was not already clear from her range in singing and rapping in Chinese, Korean and English. At 2 minutes and 40 seconds into the track, she briefly breaks from her bold, sassy rap to a soft, sweet serenade. The video for “Sage” also parallels Demie’s colorful flow. The video was directed by Ellen Kim.

Today brought the release of the new single “Rari,” a collaboration with Park and Ace Hashimoto, with the video showing the former ballerina’s dance moves.

||| Watch: The video for “Rari”