PREMIERE: EMILIA ALI’S SOPHISTICATED COVER OF “WHAT’S MY AGE AGAIN?” BRINGS THE 90S INTO 2020

Photo credits: Jasmine Oh

The year is 2020 and I am sure by now every one of you visiting We Are: The Guard is well aware of the pop-punk band Blink-182, perhaps not. Nowadays, who knows what people are aware of. Anywho, what I am also sure of is that Berklee College of Music alum Emilia Ali makes a band known for humor and dog humping (amongst other things your grandma would not approve of) sound sophisticated and classy. Ali’s cover of Blink 182’s hit single “What’s My Age Again?” is transformed with a new age sound and makes taking your pants off cool again.

EMILIA ALI -  “WHAT’S MY AGE AGAIN?” (BLINK-182 COVER)

Yes, there was a time where taking your pants off was completely normal. Just kidding. But there was a time where punk dominated the local scene of my hometown San Diego. You see, punk, hard core punk, was totally unattainable for kids like me let alone female kids like me...but in the mid 90s everything changed. With shows like Vans Warped Tour making its way to SoCal, children with parents like mine were exposed to The Aquabats, Creeper, Descendants, and hello Blink-182. From that point on, life became colorfully fun.

Hardcore punks hated the idea of Blink-182 because it wasn’t angry enough. But to me, it was genius. They made punk accessible and were the gateway into a world of realism and satire. And yes, Blink-182 was total anarchy.

The band’s mainstream success can still be felt today. 21 years after the release of “What’s My Age Again?” Emilia Ali embraces the humor found in the lyrics and gives a new life to it. I guess it’s her way making pop-punk more accessible to a new generation that seems to really be into bedroom pop sounds. Pop, punk, or whatever your genre of preference may be, with so much physical and literal noise surrounding our daily living, this rendition is very fitting.

Ali removes the classic fast punk tempo and trades it in for a slow burning beat and the once playful lyrics are now seductive and poetic.

Emilia Ali sounds natural and with her repertoire, she perhaps holds the key into what could possibly be a new genre...say, bedroom punk??? If it ever becomes a thing, she can definitely carry it into something huge thanks to her impressive portfolio. In 2016, her vocals were featured on VALNTN’s hit “Can’t Let Go” (which by the way garnered over 20 million streams) and, in 2017 she released her EP Dreamland (which debuted at #24 on the iTunes Pop Chart). Her success continued to grow and once again, her dreamy vocals were featured on dwilly’s single “ADD” and guess how many millions of streams she had. 10 million! Yeah even for a punk at heart person like me that’s pretty rad!

Keep your ears on Emilia Ali. Let today’s single completely penetrate you and once it does, you’ll find yourself singing along to "What's My Age Again?". 

For more of Emilia Ali, keep tabs on her on Instagram, and Facebook, and YouTube, and of course here at We Are: The Guard.

Beca Arredondo is easily unamused with all things not related to her interests. On her good days you can catch her avoiding the California sun and glued to her Mac plotting the next big thing. If you happen to run into her on the street and notice her wearing headphones do NOT disturb her. She is not responsible for any possible damage. Aside from the above she's very sweet and perky and responds well to good music and food.