In a world increasingly shaped by rapidly evolving AI technologies that quietly integrate into everyday life, streamlining even the most mundane tasks and making them faster to complete, Ashavari positions herself within that machine-like logic, questioning what it would mean to become A.I.
Hailing from Canada’s “Flower City” of Brampton, alt-pop and alt-R&B artist Ashavari blends synth-heavy textures, sharp-cutting beats, and gothic, eerie vocals into a sound that feels immersive and unsettling.
By channeling the emotional intensity of Evanescence alongside the sharp, avant-hip-hop production style of Audrey Nuna, Ashavari crafts a sound that feels cinematic, confrontational, and edgy.
“I Wish I Was A.I.,” which sits in the fifth slot on her recent debut full-length album Goddess from the Machine (GFTM), fuses glitch-hop and alt-rap while using artificial intelligence as a lyrical metaphor for the “freeze” response and dissociation as survival mechanisms.
From the moment the track begins, the production is so tightly executed that it immediately pulls the listener into its infectious energy. It pulses with sharp, cutting sonics and a hard-hitting 808 drop that creates an instant sense of urgency.
Ashavari’s vocals are airy and theatrical, carrying a sense of levity as they move fluidly across the track. They dance around the production rather than sit on top of it, complementing the intensity of the beat while heightening the track’s emotional charge.
Lyrically, “I Wish I Was A.I.” explores the desire to avoid pain by bypassing the human nervous system entirely, a sentiment that feels uncomfortably familiar on some level.
In the second verse specifically, listeners are drawn into the immediate, destabilizing experience of dissociative CPTSD in real time, intensified through voice-acting sequences and chaotic vocal glitches that mirror psychological fragmentation.
From her early days performing in prog-metal bands to dancing for Dorian Electra on Rina Sawayama’s world tour, Ashavari has consistently moved through music in a way that resists fixed identity.
In this new era, Ashavari is taking fuller control of her artistic narrative, moving fluidly across genres while actively reshaping how female South Asian artists are positioned within the global music landscape.
