Yaya Bey has created the ambiance of a smoky late-night jazz club on her single, “raisins.” The video looks like scenes from everyday life with her at the center applying grease to a man’s scalp. The down-home aesthetic is comfortable and could easily be a clip from her personal archive. Overall, the video represents family and authenticity and an acknowledgement of the journey that artists take to come into their own. Bey shared the inspiration behind “raisins” in a statement.
“It’s hard to sum up ‘raisins’ in a small blurb, but it’s the pursuit of love, joy, and freedom with the full knowing that there will also be pain. It’s a surrender. It’s me giving myself permission to dream. It might not happen. But maybe the real joy is not in the materialization but in the dreaming itself. The name is inspired by a Langston Hughes poem called Harlem, where he says, ‘What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?’”
“Raisins” is included on Bey’s upcoming Do It Afraid, which is exclusively produced by DJ Harrison, who is known for his work with Steve Arrington, Pink Siifu, and Joyce Wrice. The album comes out June 20th but she will perform at the Governor’s Ball in New York City on June 7th. She will embark on her Do It Afraid tour in September and travel to 11 cities.
