Remember Your North Star, Yaya Bey (7/10)

Yaya Bey has really risen to prominence with this album which has received sooooo much attention, and she had been on my to-listen-to list for a long time but yesterday my dad was really talking her up, so I finally decided to launch her up to the top of that list. For damn good reason!!!! She's so fuckin talented. She does R&B so well with a real diversity of sounds from slower ballads (in the realm of Mereba) to more dancey/poppy tunes to reggae influence in "Meet Me In Brooklyn" to some really great rap with the kind of syncopation of a Tierra Whack and the eloquence of a Noname -- but truly her own unique sound. Most of the songs are her voice over great bass and keys, and it's all the kind of music I'd love to listen to at a bar in the evening. Not to mention she's queer???!! uhg. 😭😭 This album is a whopping 18 songs in just 34 minutes -- meaning there are a lot of cool and interesting interludes which I like. The most memorable lyrics which I just love are in the song "Keisha" where she sings, "And the pussy so so good / And you still don't love me" 😩 come on1!!!! Thought hard about giving it an eight but I only luv luved about half of the songs - which is not to say the others are bad. Pls go listen if no one's put you on yet... but I'm sure someone has lol. Favorite tracks: big daddy ya, keisha, pour up, reprise