Taiwanese jazz-R&B vocalist and indie fashion starlet 9m88 finally drops her long-awaited debut Beyond Mediocrity, officially graduating from pop collaborator to headliner—and she’s bursting with pride from it. The 10-track album pulls from a mix of ’80s vibes, pan-Asian pop culture and retro-futurism, while displaying her jazz roots. Changing things up on nearly every song, 9m88 showcases her huge range and diverse influences as she transitions seamlessly from the jazz improv title track and disco throwback single “Love Rain” to Internet hit “Nine Head Hinano” and hip-hop duet “Airplane Mode”—which she performs with regular cohort, rapper Leo Wang. While each track is different, 9m88 ties the whole outfit together in her lyrics. They follow 9m88’s pursuit of her musical passions, exploring subjects like the anxiety that underlies love and relationships (“Leftlovers”) and the overcoming of self-doubt to find the courage to achieve (“Beyond Mediocrity”). Each song speaks to the album’s title from different perspectives. The album is a bold statement of a maturing artist: “‘Beyond Mediocrity’ could mean a transcendent set of mind; it could also be moving beyond a goal in life,” 9m88 says. Whatever the doubts that plague her in her darker moments, 9m88 sounds like she has figured out how to transcend them. On K-pop/alt hip-hop lead single “Aim High”, she sings “When you aimin’ high, I’m aiming higher. / I’ll be running fast when you feel tired.” It’s triumphant showboating for a crowd going wild.