KeiyaA's music has a compelling warmth and fluidity. The New York City-based Chicago-raised singer is a student of her craft, being the sole producer of the majority of Forever, Ya Girl. While it's informed by Neo-Soul legends such as Erykah Badu, KeiyaA's work has a distinctly modern haze to it. The strong sequencing and loose lo-fi brilliance of the album makes it extremely easy to listen to. The aesthetic of Forever, Ya Girl finds a creative middle ground in-between music like Georgia Anne Muldrow's more sample-based work and the more organic nature of albums such as Solange's When I Get Home. Similarly to the work of both the aforementioned women, in KeiyaA's vision, blackness is paramount.
KeiyaA is consistently captivating regardless of the topic at hand. The pained opener "I Thot There Was One Wound in This House, There's Two" immediately puts two key aspects of her talent on display. One is that her voice is gorgeous, and two being that the background vocals and harmonies are brilliantly arranged. This can also be heard on "Rectifiya", which is greatly enhanced by multiple vocal lines that coalesce wonderfully. The combination of an easily chant-able mantra ("Who rectifying me?") and an addicting quirky bounce make "Rectifiya" a standout moment of the record.
Even though Forever, Ya Girl runs for only about 42 minutes, KeiyaA manages to pack sixteen tracks into it. A natural consequence of the runtime is that there are various tracks that clock in close to either side of the two-minute mark. That said, brevity is not a detriment to this album - moments like how "A Mile A Way" breathes into the glitchy opening of "I Want My Things!" show how much care was taken to ensure that everything flows seamlessly together. Although songs like "A Mile A Way" and "Way Eye" are short, both have interesting off-kilter grooves that make it extremely hard not to reach for the repeat button.
The album excels equally in vignette sized loop-ready tunes and songs of conventional length. The longest track is "Do Yourself A Favor", a cover of Prince's "If You See Me", a song the iconic musician originally recorded as a member of 94 East. "Do Yourself A Favor" does what all good covers aim to do - it completely deconstructs and rearranges the instrumental of the tune. The upbeat nature of the Prince composition is morphed into a slow burn that strikes an impressive balance between the relatively left-field aspects of KeiyaA's production style and a traditionally inviting soulful atmosphere. It's the kind of song that could be big for KeiyaA if - hopefully, when - this album receives the acclaim it deserves. Based on the superb quality of "Do Yourself A Favor" and the rest of Forever, Ya Girl, one can only hope that this stellar debut is the start of a long career.
