Artist

Yaya Bey

Data may be outdated

Last updated: 1 month ago — Click refresh to get the latest statistics.

Yaya Bey quickly returned to the studio and crafted a new body of work, an album that works as an accompanying piece to do it afraid, called Fidelity. It is a record born from a summer of reflection on what it means to be a Black artist when your grief becomes a commodity, another sob story for onlookers to feast upon. Fidelity is a bold step forward, and in this new act, Bey moves past the surface-level labels to examine what she calls the "Three Deaths": the personal, the communal, and the loss of innocence.

The album confronts Personal Death through the passing of her father in 2022. Bey questions why the life expectancy of Black musicians is so short as we continue to lose consequential artists, only to receive their flowers too late, too far after the fact. "Why are we more interesting as ghosts?" she asks, looking at the mid-career mark where so many artists are left to die by a system that prioritizes the "shiny and new.

The core of the album is indeed found in its title. For Bey, Fidelity is the ultimate Black skill. It is the ability to fall down and get back up—to be "religiously joyful" even while the world is on fire. It is a grand pivot away from a yearning for mainstream accessibility, and toward a radical faithfulness to self and community. Fidelity is not just a foil to do it afraid; it’s a reclamation. As she puts it, the veil is lifting and the work is being done, and she’s still here. Cheers to hers, and our fidelity.

Monthly Listeners

353,400