Yaya Bey
do it afraid
Album · Alternative · 2025
On do it afraid, Yaya Bey expands her scope by inviting a whole roster of diverse and unique collaborators into the fold. Following 2024’s Ten Fold, the Queens songwriter brings in production help from artists like BADBADNOTGOOD, Exaktly, Butcher Brown, and DJ Harrison. The variety in musical perspectives makes the effort Bey’s most eclectic album yet, a sonic guide to her many influences.
On “real yearners unite,” Yaya croons over a smooth jazz groove built around fingerpicked nylon string guitars and a shuffling, delicate drum groove. “raisins,” produced by DJ Harrison, is a dusty soul cut, dancing around heavy cymbals, a neo-soul bass melody, and grimy Rhodes vamps. It’s a delightful twist among an album of unexpected surprises. The project, though, maintains a steady POV thanks to Yaya Bey’s smoky, powerful voice, a tether from which she and her various collaborators search the cosmos.
do it afraid
Yaya Bey
On do it afraid, Yaya Bey expands her scope by inviting a whole roster of diverse and unique collaborators into the fold. Following 2024’s Ten Fold, the Queens songwriter brings in production help from artists like BADBADNOTGOOD, Exaktly, Butcher Brown, and DJ Harrison. The variety in musical perspectives makes the effort Bey’s most eclectic album yet, a sonic guide to her many influences.
On “real yearners unite,” Yaya croons over a smooth jazz groove built around fingerpicked nylon string guitars and a shuffling, delicate drum groove. “raisins,” produced by DJ Harrison, is a dusty soul cut, dancing around heavy cymbals, a neo-soul bass melody, and grimy Rhodes vamps. It’s a delightful twist among an album of unexpected surprises. The project, though, maintains a steady POV thanks to Yaya Bey’s smoky, powerful voice, a tether from which she and her various collaborators search the cosmos.
