‘Voice revealed last year with the magnificent debut album “Forever, Ya Girl”, Chakeiya Richmond signs while keiyaA one of the most genuine and promising adventures for the coming years. It is without crystal balls, but with the intuition of the real, that the artist has aroused curiosity and reverence around her. Listening to it, with that confessional delivery and always certain notion that less is more, reminds us of the lesson given by Kendrick Llamar with good kid, m.A.A.d city. The narrative of the songs or the aesthetic irreverence in the production stand out immediately, in a sound novel somewhere between the vision of Afro-futurism and the constant political-social struggle on the streets of New York – and the world.
If everything starts from R&B, or its most recognizable structure, it is immensely unfair to understand it only from that prism. One of the reasons that makes it so fascinating is precisely this detachment from the common ground; she strums and infects some of the most deviant electronics, feeling the latent energy of jazz or soul like a primal spark. It is a refreshing and rewarding experience, remembering, from the outset, that avant-garde is not just about conceptual complexity or hermetic visions. Erykha Badu and Sun Ra, hand in hand, with keiyaA at the epicenter of this imaginary encounter.
Opportunities to witness this contemporary chapter of R&B live are rare and even more so on this side of the Atlantic. In the past, ZDB welcomed artists such as DAWN, Kelela or THEESatisfaction, in remarkable performances. This opens up space to add one more important visit, one in which we feel it could be now or never. Unmissable.’