For all the past talks about where the black pop stars (mostly, referring to the girls), certain artists needs more moments over the collective shoulders of pop than they are getting. One being maximalist RYL0, another being Richmond’s own up and coming DIY singer-songwriter WaBeya, a pop artist whose music can best be known as what would happen in pop if mirrorballs were its own instrument.
WaBeya has tackled space pop before with a past project named Industrial Deconstruction, but this time, she encourages you to dance to your heart’s desire. In the case of “CNTY”, she encourages you to step into your power and both walk and dance like you are well aware that you have it. Let it fill you up and power you like a battery in an electronic instrument. Keys of stabbing synths and thumping bass appear in and out like stars that explode and fade while WaBeya sings of throwing caution, advice and hangers-on off like a coat. She even introduces an alter-ego BBLOMEGA “on the dancefloor” as both celebration and a declaration of WaBeya in a new and freer era.
That’s just a first single, but compared to the more downtempo and contemplative “Dawn That Fades”, that song is a spit-and-shake to newcomers. “Dawn that Comes” opens like the explanation. A peak behind the curtain of what inspired something like “CNTY”. With bright organs and deep rumbling organs, “Dawn that Comes” a interrogates whether or not being cold hearted is the move when it comes to “playing the game” in the industry.
“Have you ever wanted to win in a game so rigged and muddled with a rotting prize?” she asks. “And must one turn off their heart to play because who’s going to take care of me otherwise?” Later in the song she also wonders if the answers lie in the amount of discomfort built in time. “Guess I could fuel this engine with rage/Lord knows how much of that I’ve held inside.” Whether or not you interpret “CNTY” as a fair warning to her cold-hearted persona, two songs give you fair warning of the kind of time WaBeya is on. She is coming for her things, and the last thing you should be is in her way.
Written by mynameisblueskye
