To speak with Amaarae is to speak about curation. The Bronx-born musician grew up between Atlanta and Accra, and those transatlantic influences pop up as a potently sexy blend of R&B and Afrobeats (both of which figure in alté, a rapidly growing West African fusion genre). Like most third-culture kids, the 29-year-old artist surrounds herself fiercely with the things she loves while keeping an open mind for changes to come. She brings her influences out through her smoothly mastered music, which she produces, writes, and performs herself. It’s paying off — with each of her projects attracting more attention and versatility. This fall, she’ll open for the glossy Sabrina Carpenter tour, worlds away from the sweaty Boiler Room set she’s planning in Brooklyn next month.
It’s funny that Amaarae views her latest project, the just-released roses are red, tears are blue — A Fountain Baby Extended Play, as the result of lacking discipline. What was supposed to be a deluxe reissue of last year’s acclaimed Fountain Baby album quickly became its own thing. “The label just wanted two remixes and a new song, but I was in the studio so much, I couldn’t wait,” she tells the Cut. “I didn’t want to wait. It was like a stream-of-consciousness thing. We have all this music; what’s the point of not putting it out, if we have it? Let’s give people something to enjoy for the summer.”
And a summery album it is, but don’t let its watery texture — I imagine it’ll be on every shower-sex playlist by year’s end — hide the melancholy of its lyrics and hazy-bass production. Amaarae, who considers herself “producer first, writer second, vocalist last,” says the EP came about during the end of a “very intriguing relationship” and an attempt to reclaim her mojo. She traveled back to Ghana to hang out with her old producer friends and work through a fixation on all things wet: rain, tears, oceans, the blues.
While she’s the kind of person to float in the ocean to let the calmness sink in for a few minutes, Amaarae is always trying to resurface to enjoy the party. The EP’s themes might be darker, but its fruitful production was anything but gloomy. “With Fountain Baby,” she explains, “I was so intent on proving myself and leveling up, skill-set-wise. I’m not going to lie to you, this time around, I actually have zero fucks to give. And I don’t know if that somehow made everything feel more seamless because, I have to be honest, I wasn’t trying so hard to do anything but be myself and feel good about making music again.”
Do you feel comfort in water? I see you’re a Cancer …
Water, to me, is everything. It calms me down. It makes me happy. But then, the thing about water is that it’s a very unpredictable and volatile thing. I was just out on a Jet Ski in Malta and the waves were so dark and choppy, so scary. I thought to myself, I’m on top of this water, and there’s miles, miles, miles, miles underneath me. I have no clue what is happening and anything could come out at me at this moment. I think that’s what’s so beautiful about water: It’s this dangerous thing that’s also calming, and also a nourishing part of our lives.
Where do you get your best culture recommendations from?
There’s this producer in Atlanta, Popstar Benny, who I think is probably one of the greatest underground A&Rs right now. It’s funny because I don’t think he even realizes what he’s doing, but he’s always posting these incredible artists and producers, and I really respect his opinion. So far, all the artists that he’s talked about have ended up on most of my playlists and are the ones that I’m inspired by. I love Outlander Magazine; I think Callum McCaff, its founder, is really dope in his thought process and what he’s doing for fashion and culture. Sean Brown is also a really fire curator right now. Renell Medrano is a great photographer and great creative, as well.
Your music begs to be danced to. Who are you at the club? Are you dancing?
I’m kind of, like, in the corner just swaying a little bit. But if the DJ is really good, if the drinks are poppin’ and they’re not skimping on the alcohol, and I really get in my bag, I’ll tear the dance floor the fuck up. But that’s a rare Amaarae moment. You might catch me doing that twice a year.
Speaking of which, would you ever play a DJ set?
Oh, for sure, for sure, for sure. I have a Boiler Room set coming up, and I’m thinking of surprising them and just doing a DJ set. I think they might be pissed off, but we’ll see.
I’m putting that on my calendar. Outside the club, what do you listen to when you’re alone in the car?
I’ve really been getting into Brandy’s Full Moon album. Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience. The Marías’ new album, Submarine. Ooh, the Speak album, by Lindsay Lohan, I’ve recently been getting back into that.
We need your “Rumors” cover.
Wait, you might be onto something. That beat is so fire. I should do that.
Do you have a preproduction or preperforming ritual?
Preperformance: stretch, pray, silence, just so I can get in the zone. Pre–going into the studio, it depends. There’s days where I’ll get all the boys in and we’ll meditate before we go into a session. And then there are days where we start a session late, and I’ll take them to the strip club. It just depends on what I want out of the session for that day.
Who are you at the strip club? I usually have to restrain myself from trying to choreograph the whole thing in my mind.
You’d be surprised how strippers will be so gassed if you actually get into it with them — the choreography, the moves. For me, I like to ball out at the strip club. Whatever city I go to, I like to go and spend money on the strippers just to pay my respects. I will literally get on the pole with the strippers, I’ll dance with them, I’ll have a great time with them.
What’s the Afrobeats artist you’d recommend for someone who wants to get into the genre?
It would have to be the Wizkid album, Made in Lagos. Wiz is the king of Afrobeats. He started making music when I was 15 years old, and he’s still at the top of the game. This is his essential album, but also the one that kind of brings together all the different pieces of Afrobeats, from the language, to the swing, to the mood, to the tone of the music. It’s also very grown, very sexy, very palatable. I think that it signifies the growth of probably the foremost and most important Afrobeats artist.
What about alté?
Cruel Santino’s Mandy & the Jungle. I think, with that album, he not only defined what was the alté sound, but predicted what was going to be the Afrobeats sound to come. It’s all very soft, very bouncy, but also very fun and edgy. I love how he mixes dancehall, Afrobeats, R&B, and experimental sounds.
What is your comfort rewatch?
Girlfriends is for sure one of them. As of recently, though, I would say Mean Girls. I watched it, like, five times this week alone. I’m blown away by how funny it is every single time. I think I’ve watched it too many times to still be discovering new things, but it’s just such an amazing movie that encapsulates the female high-school experience perfectly. Regina George, I think, is the greatest villain of all time. She probably wouldn’t think so, but I think it’s the best character of her acting career. It’s interesting how there’s typically a softness to a Rachel McAdams character, and Regina is the complete total opposite of that. And Amanda Seyfried? The comedic timing, bro. She really takes the comedy to a whole new level, and I don’t think she gets enough credit for how funny she was.
What’s your favorite game to play?
Uno. It’s interesting that the rules change, depending on who you’re playing with. Everyone has their own unique way of playing Uno. Every time, it’s like, “Oh, I didn’t know this set of rules existed.” But somehow, someway, in different communities or with different people, it’s a whole different set of rules.
What’s the last book you couldn’t put down?
I’ve read it a few times, but I have to say The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy. It’s so deeply sad, but I love the way that she really explores family dynamics. You can read it over and over again and there are things you’ll find that are brand-new, or little ways that, as I have grown older and began to understand life a little bit more, make its lessons so much more profound.
What would your last meal be?
That’s a good question, ’cause I love to eat. I will have to mix it up, so an assortment of my favorite dishes, but on one plate. I’ll have to do jollof and kelewele from Ghana; that’s rice and fried plantain. Then I’m gonna have to do steamed ginger fish; that’s Chinese. Drunken noodles; Thai. And fried chicken from Harold’s Chicken & Ice in Atlanta. They have sweet-potato tater tots that are to die for, and the way their chicken is breaded is so soft, so flaky, so tasty.
You have a great shirt that’s become sort of a slogan of yours now: “sexy, hot, and slightly psychotic.” What’s the last of each that you did?
The last sexy thing I did was go on a date that I felt was really grown and sexy. We went out to a really nice dinner, then we went to the club, but it wasn’t your typical date. I got dressed really nice, did my makeup really nice, put on some really nice perfume. I was like, Oh, I’m going on a date date. So I got real sexy for that.
The last hot thing I did — I don’t know that this is appropriate, so let me see how I can put it in PG terms for you. I’m gonna just say I met a really hot stranger at a concert, and we went home together, and I’ll end it there.
The last slightly psychotic thing that I did? I left someone who flew into town to see me for dead. Because we had had a conversation on poor communication and they literally reneged on their word, like, six hours later. And I literally was like, “You know what? I can’t with you. Your communication is so poor. You’re not trying to meet me halfway. Thanks for coming out to see me. I don’t ever want to speak to you again. Have a safe flight back.”
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
