Forever, Ya Girl by KeiyaA | Album Review
KeiyaA’s debut album is as smooth as satin and deep as the ocean.
I was very happy to find KeiyaA’s album among a list of others to listen to in a 2020 NPR article. Forever a fan soul and R&B, I knew I needed to check it out. KeiyaA, born Chakeiya Richmond, has had a passion for music that stems back to her childhood in Chicago. Her prowess in music has allotted her several different instruments to work with: saxophone, clarinet, piano, and synths. On KeiyaA’s debut, Forever, Ya Girl, she samples various sounds and pieces to weave the perfect backdrop to the lines she’s written. Her songs blend the day to day struggles with money, sex, relationship, racism, and self worth in ways that work on their own and together.
“A lot of what I was feeling during the time that I wrote that music was feeling like I was broken and needed to be fixed. But also knowing that I really wasn’t broken. I’m in pain, and I feel despair. Some of it, I think, is my fault. Some of it, I think, is other people’s fault. Some of it, I think, is a systemic thing. Either way, we gotta figure it out.”
We open on “I Thot There Was One Wound in This House, There’s Two”. A soft haze of neo-soul influenced keys hums us through the story she weaves through the track. KeiyaA questions why the man in her life doesn’t reciprocate her love. Her ease at which she can love and trust is questioned as a sort of weakness that pushes him away, “Why (Why?) won’t you love me?/ Is it ’cause I’m so damn easy to love? (Love)/ I’m so damn easy to trust/ I’m so damn easy to love (Ah)/ I please you enough/ I know that reason is tough to buck with.”
“Way Eye” focuses on those who act to keep her down in their own come up. The samples of keys and beats bring a rich smoothness. The opening verse praises the removal of these people from her life as she can grow, “I-I-if God removes to protect, then I can flex my Patek/ Get your boot off my neck, so we both can progress/ You cannot access me with a check (Ah)/ Maybe you need to reflect (Ah) so so we can both progress.” The outro skit an example of those who want to steal her accomplishments for themselves. This play of everyone asking to “borrow” her album transitions ideally into the next track.
The first track I heard off the album is “Rectifiya”. The creamy textures of saxes and keys marry beautifully against the vocal performance KeiyaA brings. The opening line samples Paula Moss’s “Somebody Almost Run Off Alla My Stuff”, which adds a layer rectification to her situation. Lyrically, the song dives into the leech like feeling of supporting those around her, but getting little support and care back in turn, “Claimin’ they get healing from my energy/ But baby, I need you to reciprocate, yeah (Who rectifying me?).” She lets it be known she will not dull her shine for others, “I will never reel in my shine, wear a shade (Who rectifying me?).” The refrain of “Who rectifying me?” a call for someone to finally show her the love she’s been giving out. We end off on a sample of Nina Simone from the documentary “Nina Simone — an Historical Perspective by Peter Rodis”. Her quote of, “Everybody is half dead. Everybody avoids everybody,” brings to mind the duality of betrayal that both drains and closes off people to the needs of others.
“Hvnli” deals with the spiritual. Much like how we ended “Rectifiya”, we open on a quote from Nina Simone from the documentary “Nina Simone — an Historical Perspective by Peter Rodis”. The quote continues from the last song to say she’s one of those everybody’s. This works in beautifully to the worn down state KeiyaA is in. The love the almost psychedelic sound of the reversed and processed synth backing. Her backing vocals bring in the spiritual touch. We start out seeing how the many struggles surrounding KeiyaA have affected her, “Gone for so long/ I prefer to spend time alone with my pain, hey/ Gone for so long/ I can barely recall the last my phone rang, hey.” Through all this, she takes solace in her faith and inner strength, “And my soul loves carelessly/ My God’s always there for me (Heavenly)/ And my love is heavenly (Heavenly)…/ And my love is always there for me (Heavenly).”
Sonically, “Hvnli (Reprise)”, brightens from the shimmering synths and thick synth bass line. Lyrically, the track echos some of the sentiments left behind from the last track. The repetition of lines, “I can barely afford to eat much more red/ Meat, to eat meat, to eat meat/ To eat meat, meat/ I can barely afford to eat/ But my love is heavenly,” displays the weight of money needs bringing stress onto her. Regardless, her faith and perseverance keep her moving forward.
“Do Yourself a Favor” calls out those who turn on you when you needed them the most. The languorous Rhodes and synth bass brings to mind some of my favorite Erykah Badu tracks. The opening lines to the song are borrowed from the 94 East song, “If You See Me”.
She lets it be known the tethers you cut only set her free, “If you see me walking down the street one day/ Don’t say nothing to me/ ’Cause you did me wrong when I was doing bad/ So bad I didn’t think I could make it/ Now that I’m alone, I’m feeling free/ Freer than a butterfly flying high now.” Although she may not be rich and well off at the moment, she’s walking tall from those who only seek to drag her down. The bridge references a line from the Jayne Cortez poem “For the Poets (Christopher Okigbo and Henry Dumas)”, which adds another layer of empowerment. This same section brings in a sample from the same spoken word performance from Jayne Cortez of poem “For the Poets (Christopher Okigbo and Henry Dumas)”.
The title of “A Mile, A Way” is a clever take on distance from goals, obstacles, and hazards and how to manifest a way around to to them. The instrumental backing is a sample of Beyonce’s “Kitty Kat”. I love the slow groove this section of the song brings to the track. Each line of the track displays the foresight KeiyaA has various aspects of her life, “I see a hater from a mile away/ I’ll see them later, I’m a mile away/ I see a shooter from a mile away, yeah/ I see a suitor from a mile away, yeah yeah (from a mile away)/ I see my future from a mile away, yeah.”
“I Want My Things!” is a celebration of self. The opening verse a call and response sample of Paula Moss’s “Somebody Almost Run Off Alla My Stuff” which anchors power in all aspects of herself, flaws and all, as they make her whole. Her use of a descending heavy synths lines and sax samples creates this velvety fog over the track. The second verse a sense of liberation for herself and her community, “I’m wrestled with conflicts centered on topics of liberation/ I’m riddled with demons, it’s time to release them once and for all/ I’m dealing with burdens I never deserved, yet I’m responsible.” These lines are called back to in “F.W.U.” later in the album. We also get a nod to “Proud Mary” in the lines, “The wheels gon’ keep turning/ And I’ma keep burning, so baby roll up.”
“Change the Story (Interlude)” takes us into racial empowerment. It’s a call to break through the long standing notions of black sub-ordinance brought on my white culture and stand strong as a community. KeiyaA beautifully empowers the black community through her lines, “The moment we put value on us/ The moment we say ‘we’re enough/ We’re enough, we’re valuable’/ That’s when we change the story/ But as long as we feel like white water taste better/ We’re still gonna be in this position.” This energy continues excellently into the next song.
“Every N**** Is a Star” continues the theme of black empowerment, “Yes, that includes me and you/ Ya moms dad cousin sisters they and them too.” KeiyaA is steadfast in her stance and mission. The chorus pushing to bring whats for those around her and herself to come to fruition, “If it takes love to make love/ Then baby shape up and take some of what I got for ya/ If it takes money to make money/ Somebody pray for me, that great comings are bound for me/ If it takes time to make time/ Before we waste time, let’s break down this line from straight.” The simple production brings much more power to the song.
“I! Gits! Weary!” is a testament to the many many things wearing down KeiyaA, “Should I give up privacy so I can pay my rent?/ Should I take a policy out on my tax-sponsored dissent?…/ Should I speak up about the shit I’m dealing with?/ It’s like no matter what I try, I can’t shake this feeling, yeah.” Her main focus around divinity for herself is solace, “If to build and destroy is to be divine/ Then all I really want is peace of mind.” Sonically, the song is a heavenly delight of soulful keys, shimmering chimes, and tasty vocal harmonies.
“Negus Poem 1 & 2” brings in self worth on the song’s opening verse, “We ride through cycles of time/ Yet we transcend this life/ Who else is supposed to ride or die for me, if not I?/ Fear not, know that you’re divine!” The cyclical nature of these lines a mantra of a continued legacy of strength and perseverance. The outro brings forward this statement to speak truths, fight for justice, and be real. We end with a call out legacy of writer/poet Henry Dumas (whose work had an important influence in the Black Power movement of the 1960s), but also his untimely death brought upon by police brutalty in 1968. This ending statement a powerful reminder that acts like these continue to affect the black community, but the legacy of those affected will never die. Much like the production on the prior tracks, the instrumentation provides the perfect blanket to rest KeiyaA’s words upon. It’s rich keys and vocals tastefully blurred to provide a nocturnal hum.
“Forreal???” walks the line of sex and security. KeyiaA wants to make sure her mind is in the right place before she commits to having sex with this man. The verse sets in motion her need to obtain clarity before diving into this sexual encounter, “I’m talking ‘bout getting the peace of mind of knowing/ That what I have is for me/ So, as tempting as it would be/ To let that thang all up inside of me/ I’d rather maintain security.” The outro slightly flips it as she wants to go all the way as an act of love in this time of rising discrimination, “I really wanna fuck on you in this time of war/ ’Cause ain’t it really love that we all are fighting for?”
Still, KeiyaA maintains lucidity her needs over the need of the physical. I love the thunderous beat of the drum programming and the chunky synth bass. I only wish the electronic arpeggios had the same blur the other instrumentation had. “F.W.U.” meaning “Fuck With You” waxes on deeper connections with someone. We open on a candid display of KeiyaA’s evolution to this point, “I’m better than older versions of me, I’m/ A veteran when it comes to defeat, my/ Skeleton’s never bent to be broken…” I really enjoy the resolve she shows towards her causes in the lines, “The storm in me questions whether to chill, or/ Continue to let rage, tether my will to build/ Until then I’d rather feather my quill.”
The outro is a sort of pact to keep this honesty close to the chest and precious from others. The reverbed and chopped guitar samples bring to mind sitting in a friend’s apartment in the city. The song continues with light samples of Paula Moss’s “Somebody Almost Run Off Alla My Stuff” calling to mind the need to be able to talk about real topics unfiltered.
We continue on the themes of black empowerment on “Nu World Burdens”. She calls out the need to white people’s need to invade and be validated in black spaces, “We raised you and bathed you, and yet you still beg/ For vindication in our spaces/ So many wonder how much longer we must suffer.” The chorus call for burning the continued racist societal bindings that keep true equality and justice out of reach for black people, “‘Cause we deserve to go home/ And our souls will never be owned again/ We can thrive on our own/ And rid ourselves of these new world burdens.” The Paula Moss sample cut, “I want my rhythm,” a call to protect the culture that so many want to exploit.
We end the album on “Keep It Real”. KeiyaA ends out letting you know her truths may have hit deep, but she’s here to keep it real, “You know what I got/ Won’t you work with me?/ I’m tryna take it to the top/ I never meant to hurt your feelings.” She keeps it clear that you will never dull her shine. Regardless, if you keep it real with her she’ll make sure you both shine no matter what, “You can never throw dirt on mine/ Rebuking any curse on we/ I promise you, these words don’t lie/ I only know how to keep it real.” They bring in an absolutely delicious sample of Hiroshi Suzuki’s “Romance” which adds such a creamy jazz tone. It’s a nice way to close out a very smooth and poignant project.
I loved the album when I first heard it. KeiyaA sticks strong to a theme of black empowerment, self encouragement, and strength. Each sample feel meticulously cut to not only amplify her words, but celebrate the many artist, poets, and people that inspired her. Sonically, the record is a cohesive mix of dreamy soul, jazz, and R&B. At times you feel like your walking through cloud of sound that floats you to the next topic on KeiyaA’s list. This is a very strong debut. I can’t wait to see what comes next from the Chicago native. My favorite tracks:
- “I Thot There Was One Wound in This House, There’s Two”
- “Rectifya”
- “Hvnli”
- “A Mile, A Way”
- “I! Gits! Weary!”
- “F.W.U”
My overal rating: 9.0 out of 10.
Sources:
