Yaya Bey possesses a remarkable talent, the ability to seamlessly integrate reggae, house music, and more into her unique sonic vision, always sounding fresh and inventive.
On her groundbreaking upcoming album, Ten Fold, the Brooklyn-based artist blends her R&B style with elements of hip-hop, pop, and soul. She also captures the essence of her city, a connection evident since her 2016 debut, The Many Alter-Egos of Trill’eta Brown.
Whether on record or in conversation, Bey embodies the classic duality of a native New Yorker: She understands that the city’s ever-changing energy means no single perspective can capture it all, but she also knows when it’s her turn to speak out.
“People who are born and raised here are like unicorns,” says the experimental R&B/pop artist, who grew up in Queens, the daughter of Grand Daddy I.U., a member of the iconic hip-hop group the Juice Crew. So when Mayor Eric Adams attended an event while Canadian wildfires turned the city orange with smoke, she voiced her thoughts through the track “eric adams in the club.”
This fiery critique is just one of the powerful emotions driving Ten Fold; the loss of her father adds a layer of sorrow, while her new marriage brings a burst of joy, among other emotional hues. While 2022’s Remember Your North Star was built on thematic unity, Ten Fold’s 16 tracks are cathartic in their ability to shift between extremes and capture life’s most profound moments. “I was experiencing success and grief at the same time, and that set the tone,” Bey explains about creating the new album. Alongside her continued experimentation as a visual artist and poet, Bey’s activism — including her work as a street medic at protests — underscores the real-world connections in her expressive work. “It made me really focus on my responsibility to my neighbor and how I exist in the world, loving and caring not just about myself, but about the collective struggle,” she says.
