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Dawn by Yebba | Album Review

Review of the recently emerging artist’s debut album

By Josh HerringPublished 2 years ago 6 min read
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Dawn album cover

If you’ve read any of my previous work, you might have seen the mention of “The Drake Effect”, which in short is the boom in popularity of any particular artist after working with Drake. Personally, Drake has introduced me to Kendrick Lamar and The Weeknd (through Take Care), Tems and now Yebba. The Memphis artist is already an award-winning singer songwriter, having won a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance in 2019 for her single, “How Deep Is Your Love”. In addition, Yebba has racked up as a feature with prominent artists (and producers, like Mark Ronson) such as Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Stormzy, and most recently, Drake on Certified Lover Boy.

Yebba is a breath of fresh air in the music landscape. In the music atmosphere that has been missing Adele, Yebba is a budding and exemplary consolation prize. Coming from a bit of a tragic backstory with the departure of her late mother, the artist has every reason to bare each and every raw emotion into her debut album, Dawn. With extremely strong vocal ability, Yebba pours her heart into her music. While she does have a more unique vocal pattern that doesn’t mimic any other artist, I can’t help but being reminded of Adele due to the effortless high flying power ballads.

There are a couple of moments in Dawn that signify the obvious differences between the two though. Yebba ventures ever so slightly into the trap genre with features from A$AP Rocky and Smino, a bold approach that I think paid off well. Secondly, Yebba isn’t quite as perfect in the heights of her vocal extremities as Adele is — this is most evident on the song, “Boomerang” as she just misses on the tail end of the hook. While this may be intentional to capture an exasperated feeling, the note sounds like unfamiliar territory for the artist. Lastly, Yebba has a bit of Southern influence plus a twangy rasp in her voice stemming from her heritage (Memphis) and gospel background. It’s odd how such different artist can capture very similar elements and pull our heartstrings the same way.

The buzz was starting to grow with her feature on CLB as a week later she would release her debut album. Her addicting singing style is complexly intertwined with grief, introspection, relationships, anger, and perseverance. Dawn is the culmination of loss personified in an ode to her late mother, the inspiration for this album. Yebba leaves no emotional stone unturned in this work.

Opening with an affront of her grief, Yebba questions “How many years will it take for these tears to dry?” in “How Many Years”. This song is slow, a little quiet, and has a mystical element to it. There aren’t the power vocals just yet, as the artist is setting the tone for the album. We are introduced in an acclimating way, as what’s to come is certain to blow you away.

The next song, “Stand” is where we really start to see a strongly grieving Yebba. The song is a sort of introspection as she questions her perseverance in the absence of her mother. Her death divided her universe and, essentially, astronomically changed the way she perceives life. She repeatedly asks herself, “can you stand the rain?”, perhaps a reference to Ann Peebles, “I Can’t Stand the Rain”. The last chorus is the first explosion of voice as we pass the point of no return. If this part of the song doesn’t snatch your ears, nothing will.

“Boomerang” is an interesting song as it can definitely be a hit or miss for most listeners. It has a southern/southwestern revenge fantasy theme to it, think Carrie Underwood. Vocally, it isn’t her strongest performance, but damn that chorus is so catchy with the high pitched almost whistle like harmonizing. The recent live performance edition that was released is arguably better than the studio versions as we get that emotional rasp in her voice.

“Far Away” with A$AP Rocky is such an unexpected collaboration after listening to the first few songs. There’s a darker, more broody feeling and it’s sort of eery — but I like it. Honestly, I found Rocky’s verse unnecessary and cheesy. He says “Yabba dabba doo” to make the rhyme with Yebba, like seriously? Regardless, I like this little delve into trap beats and elements as it serves as an appetizer for the better executed entree later in the album.

I’ve debated on my favorite song as I listened to this album several times. “October Sky” is very close to being at the top. The song recalls a particularly fond memory of her mother calling her outside as she shoots a model rocket off into the air. This scene is cut off just as quickly with the image of a picture of Yebba with her brother and mother that’s covered in dust. This picture sits on the mantle, next to a carton of cigarettes that she smokes since the death of her mother. This images are painted to well and juxtapose so well you can’t help but be bereaved in guilt and grief as well. As we approach the end of October, be sure to remember your fondest memories of the October sky.

Featuring Smino, this cinematic piece is a much more cohesive attempt at a trap/rap based song. The video includes cuts of of her childhood home videos as she cruises through her city. The song itself feels deeply vengeful and dark at times, as if something bad is about to happen. While not my favorite, this could well be the best song on the album. This song is also followed by another “song” — “One More Smile” — that serves as an outro to “Louie Bag”.

The next song, in my eyes, could be viewed as one of Yebba’s signature songs. It really highlights and capitalizes on Yebba’s ability to write choruses and hook that complement her vocal strengths. Her runs are extremely consistent and almost unmatched. It feels very much like a well-spoken gospel song and could easily be converted as such as she speaks on how “your love came down”.

Lastly, is the lead single of the album, “Distance”. The song is a quiet, reminiscent reflection of the desire to go back to the past. In the last memorable ode to her mother, Yebba send all her love to her. In the last seconds of the song, it sounds like there is a vocal feature or interpolation that sounds like Beyoncé but I can’t find anything to confirm this. I love the jazz and saxophone in the background complemented by the smooth drum pattern.

In the first in-depth look at the powerful singing artist, Yebba doesn’t fail to impress and build upon an already impressive resume of music accolades. Her singing ability can put her in a league of her own and her songwriting ability can keep her there. I don’t know where she goes from here but Yebba is sure to a beautiful complement to an artist such as Adele in how they can effortlessly capture the ears and hearts of any audience.

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About the Creator

Josh Herring

Emerging writer and published poet | Owner of Modern Music Analysis music publication

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  • Jesse Rieb2 years ago

    Well I’m sure of one thing after reading this “album review”; this guy shouldn’t be writing them. Who uses their extremely inaccurate opinion of which artist is better for a debut album review!? This guy. Adele eats Yebba’s dust. Elaborate vocal runs, emotional key changes, exceptional tone, vocal agility, Yebba Is far more distinguished. Yebba beats Adele without question. She does lack the experience and exposure Adele has. But that will come in time and when it does, the question will be Adele who??

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