Last year, the English powerhouse singer and songwriter was nominated for four Grammys. Now she’s returning with “Stand for Myself,” an album made on her own terms.
Calculus is hard. Parallel parking is hard. Meeting and working with people who don’t look like you that’s a breeze. “It’s. Not. Hard,” the singer and songwriter Yola emphasized during a recent call, clapping her hands in between each word. “I literally came from another continent, and remedied it in six months. Even my
manager, from remotely in England, found writers of color for me.”
The music industry promised to face its inequities over the past year in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and decades of complaints that a business built on the creative powers of people of color hasn’t always empowered them. Yola, the 38-year-old country-soul musician who leapt to national attention with a host of nominations at the 2020 Grammys, said one solution is an obvious one.
Yola on RS Twitch: Watch Her Sing Stand for Myself Songs
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After two decades in music, Yola expands her powers
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By rights, Yola should be trumpeted as one of the UKâs hottest exports. Her 2019 debut
Walk Through Fire was nominated for four Grammys; she plays Sister Rosetta Tharpe in Baz Luhrmannâs forthcoming Elvis biopic. But this Brighton singer, born Yolanda Quartey, has gone native in Nashville, pairing her elastic, retro voice with a vintage, soulful roll of the kind favoured by Black Keysâ Dan Auerbach, who returns as producer here.
Stand for Myself remains attuned to these country-soul stylings, but the full ingredients list is long: old-timey doo-wop on Great Divide, Brandi Carlile backing vocals, plus subtle British inflections â really, Yola and Michael Kiwanuka need to talk. Laid atop these comforting sounds are bang up-to-date themes. Diamond Studded Shoes bristles at economic inequity. âIsolated, we hold in our fears,â she sings on the languorous Barely Alive.
After Two Decades in Music, Yola Expands Her Powers
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