Amaarae via Music In Africa
Amaarae Is An R&B and Neo-Soul Goddess
By Ash CJun. 26 2019, Published 8:25 p.m. ET
Based in Ghana in West Africa, Amaarae is a DJ, sound engineer, songwriter, singer, and producer of R&B and Neo-Soul goodness. Not only was she named Apple Music Africa‘s Favourite New Artist in April 2018, the multifaceted artist was also featured in Vogue‘s Top 100 style influencers.
Her eclectic debut EP Passionfruit Summers was a huge success, but now she’s back and better than ever with her new single Spend Some Time featuring Wande Coal. The song gives off a tropical chill vibes that is unintentional yet so refreshing.
-“‘Spend Some Time‘ is the simplest track I’ve done as far as the recording and writing process is concerned. I had that song written in my head for months. […] It took about 30 minutes to lay the vocals, [Wande came in an hour later and] freestyled over it for like 10 minutes and boom. That was the record. […] This is one of the very few songs that I just didn’t overthink, I let the inspiration wash over me and I took it from there.”
“‘Spend Some Time‘ is the simplest track I’ve done as far as the recording and writing process is concerned. I had that song written in my head for months. […] It took about 30 minutes to lay the vocals, [Wande came in an hour later and] freestyled over it for like 10 minutes and boom. That was the record. […] This is one of the very few songs that I just didn’t overthink, I let the inspiration wash over me and I took it from there.”
With the music video, Amaarae pays tribute to the divas of the late 70s, from Donna Summer to Eartha Kitt. The idea is to highlight women being their truest, most beautiful selves and enjoying it. Stream the track here.
Amaarae defines her music as being inspired by the likes of Billie Holiday, Stevie Nicks, Missy Elliot, Sade, Lil Kim, and Ashanti. And not just that, she also cites her biggest musical influence as West African culture and how much the people truly love music; especially with legends such as Ofori Amponsah, Daddy Lumba, Daasebre Gyamenah, Reggie Rockstone, and Obrafour.
There is more to come. For Amaarae‘s next project, she plans to throw it back to the music she listened to as a kid, from 1999-2005: how it influenced her, and how the music those artists listened to shaped them. We stan a soulful queen and we can’t wait to hear more!
