“Suffering is promised to us all, but so is joy. You have
to find peace in that duality,” says Yaya Bey, who
commits to life’s delight — humor, love, the power of
human movement and connection — even if she has
to do it afraid. With her new album, which follows a
run of critically acclaimed releases and marks her
debut on art-forward indie label drink sum wtr, the
Queens, New York singer-songwriter thrives across
uplifting, effervescent material. A rejection of past
narratives projected onto her, ‘do it afraid’ finds Bey
reclaiming her story with resolutely fun, full-hearted,
and nuanced songs that pull from R&B, hip-hop, jazz,
soul, and dance music, including the soca stylings of
her family’s Bajan roots. do it afraid celebrates all sides
of Yaya as part of a collective lifeforce that doesn’t
subscribe to fear but to the moments that move us.