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‘I was sad in a way I never knew possible’: Yaya Bey on grief, poverty and using music as therapy
The end of a marriage, the chaos of Covid and the death of her father hit the R&B auteur hard. But she says that she has found beauty in sadness
Her 2022 breakthrough, Remember Your North Star, fused homespun neo-soul with hip-hop as she brooded over heartache, depression and a world that no longer made sense, coining a sound as intimate as a voice note from a desperate friend. Dark, funny and sad, the album blended R&B, lover’s rock and hip-hop (Reprise), took aim at loser dudes (Rolling Stoner), and bemoaned toxic relationships (Keisha, with the genius hook: “The pussy’s so, so good / And you still don’t love me”). Her characteristic introspection is tempered by political broadsides (Eric Adams in the Club, a swipe at New York’s disastrous mayor, dancing while the Big Apple burns), celebrations of funk legends (iloveyoufrankiebeverly, a tribute to the Maze bandleader who “achieved something phenomenal with his cookout music – it uplifts people”), and anthems of self-celebration (the gloriously housey Sir Princess Bad Bitch, with its chorus of “I wouldn’t never rather be / No other thing but the thing I am”.
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