Yaya Bey : Fidelity
No matter the topic addressed within New York R&B vocalist Yaya Bey‘s impressive discography, over six albums and two EPs, her heart, grit, and guts are visible. They pull strength from a number of places. On Fidelity, my ears are inundated with that combo of Lauryn Hill and Georgia Anne Muldrow-type vulnerability that somehow always plays as strength. And like them, Bey’s message in previous projects lie in the heart and soul of Black America. Now she speaks to everyone, and everybody, if they are wise, should listen. We all can use the truth. But Bey’s has this thing; no matter if she’s rapping to us, or seducing, or scolding her paramour, she’s going to talk to you between lyrics. See she is always gonna “gimme one” and that’s the shit her fans live for. She’s not above anyone—just right there fighting next to you.
Fidelity sees Bey fighting for her own self, the ability to be public and private concerning private matters. You get the impression that her father’s passing a couple years ago, Grand Daddy I.U. of the hip-hop collective Juice Crew, is in the room of emotions still on this project, which anybody can understand. Shit, my Dad’s been dead for fifteen years, and I think about him and hear his voice every day. That’s just the truth. And concerning Bey, that’s her life. ‘Cause no matter what happens in life—tragedy or not—the earth continues to spin, which is enough to make anyone with a pulse or an Instagram account feel a certain way, in the least.
So Fidelity doesn’t necessarily mourn per se, she’s done that already on on 2024’s Ten Fold and in a minimal sense on last years do it afraid. No, Bey is working on lamenting in a grandeur self-produced style, with an album full of quirky-sultry soul that comprises jazzy ideas, lovers rock moments, and at times ’90s R&B flights of fancy. There is a quizzical flickering frequency distilling itself in the background on the languid confessional “As The Ocean” where Bey reveals comedy, pain and truth simultaneously:
“You don’t love me like a fragile thing/Baby, I’m a fragile thing
I be breaking easy, you never take it easy on me
You never wanna believe me when I say
‘My back hurt, my heart ache, my bra too tight’
While I toss and I turn, you sleeping good at night
And I/I just need a little time to get it right”
Bey remains one of the best at laying something out there so truthfully, so heartfelt, so damn funny. But you get it, and with Fidelity and its 16 tracks, there are mini worlds full of these confessionals. Not apologies per se, but just moments when Bey is letting folks know the fighter just needs a sec to get better as a human, and I think we can all wait; her way back is just as mindful as the landing point.
Label: drink sum wtr
Year: 2026
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