“Ten Fold”, Yaya Bey | The duty

In the vision rather than in the voice (which she has silky and agile), the young New Yorker Yaya Bey has the seed of Erykah Badu, and this is certainly not to displease us. Even better than Remember Your North Star (2022), the musician stretches the elastic soul-R & B with her refined, tangy, electronic and jazzy orchestrations, concocted with the help of a handful of collaborators – including the composer and drummer Karriem Riggins, old accomplice of J Dilla, still alive in the impulses that move the album. Stringing together 16 short, diverse songs, the musician sings with the glass half full, after going through trying years marked by the pandemic, a romantic breakup and the death of her dad, veteran MC Grand Daddy IU, whose appearance on so fantastic reminds us how R&B and hip-hop are inextricable in its musical conception. Suave, melodious, Ten Fold can be listened to on a loop; Let’s not miss the free concert she will offer at the Montreal International Jazz Festival on June 27.

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