I just want to shake my tail feather': how KeiyaA shut out the noise to make one of the year's best albums

"KeiyaA had been grinding in New York's experimental jazz and hip-hop scenes for a good six years before her 2020 debut album, Forever, Ya Girl. Self-released on Bandcamp to make some cash while couchsurfing, the record totally shifted her life's course. A low-key yet potent swirl of bedroom pop, R&B and electronic music that zeroed in on feelings of solitude and uncertainty, it struck a chord with critics at tastemaker sites such as Pitchfork and the Fader"

"It also allowed her to tour the world; at the same time, the 33-year-old producer, singer and multi-instrumentalist born Chakeiya Richmond immediately began to feel the pressure of following it up, stress compounded by the end of a toxic relationship. I was like, at worst, [the follow-up] has to be just as good. At best, it has to be better. How am I gonna do that?"

"KeiyaA also noticed that she was changing herself to meet expectations. There was a difference between the way I would dress myself than what I would accept when I was styled by someone, she says. KeiyaA brings up the heavy tan shirt dress she wore to play NPR's Tiny Desk Concert. I'm grateful for the women who helped me find that dress, but I think I also felt like: I'm a fat woman and they're trying to cover me up. I want to be snatched"

KeiyaA spent six years in New York's experimental jazz and hip-hop scenes before releasing Forever, Ya Girl in 2020. She self-released the album on Bandcamp while couchsurfing; its intimate blend of bedroom pop, R&B and electronic music focused on solitude and uncertainty and attracted critical attention from outlets such as Pitchfork and the Fader. The record enabled international touring but created pressure to surpass its success amid a toxic breakup. Longstanding depression worsened, producing survival-mode inertia that hindered daily care and music-making. She felt pressured to change her appearance for publicity, struggling with styling choices that conflicted with her preferred body-positive presentation.

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