Album Review: Rebirth
by Maya Huyana
James Ritzendollar - 9/25/17 4:34 PM
Maya Huyana is an artist based out of San Bernadino, CA who's been making music since she was 4 years old. On Wednesday she'll be dropping her album Rebirth and we got an early peak today. With production from GOLDDIGGA and mixing and recording done with East of the River, Mayah put together a fantastic project for us to look into.
Kicking off with the title track "Rebirth" there is an instant hit of mellow melodic vibes similar to Badu, Aiko, and Noname. Mayah shows a limitless aptitude for lyrics and vocal performance. Admittedly the mixing on this track is slightly off perfect as there is a vocal over vocal dynamic that is slightly out of key in the melody but everything else about the song was so fantastic that you only find this is you are nitpicking. The following track "Inter City Dialouge" is simply amazing. The production is next level as GOLDDIGGA displays an ability to pick and piece together samples that make the song sound as if it were a live band performing but retain the aesthetic of sampled music which is incredible on its own two, but to bring it up a level Mayah layers on fantastic vocals and a strong flow that addresses difficult topics. All together this is one of the best songs I've heard in 2017 on a tape or an album. "Come Here" starts playing and you are brought into a hypnotic, beautiful, and smooth form of instrumentation with enticing story telling and a hook that you'll find yourself singing in the showers for days. Quickly I'd like to mention the fact that this project is layered with great bass lines that are on par with some of the latest jazz records in the mainstream and there isn't many better examples of this than the next track "Mayah's Jam" which you can listen to know on your streaming device. It's a gorgeous track that fits right in with the rest of this album with great flows, singing, and melodies you'll catch yourself humming. The next track is "Soul Food" which sticks with the strong formula of great production, strong lyrics with great messages, and we'll performed hooks to be remembered. Another slight mixing problem occurs on this song as the drums are fairly loud whereas I would've focused the sound on Mayah's vocals that are occasionally difficult to hear on this track. "One of Us" is our outro track. Again good production and a solid message performed well. It hits on that age old question on what if God was one of us. While I might hop to call this a cliche it's difficult due to the fact that every artist has their own take on this question and Mayah answers strong and even if her answer had been weak the song sounds so great that it would be difficult to criticize.
Overall I couldn't get enough of this project and when it drops on Wednesday the 25th of September you can bet that it'll be in my regular rotation of albums for kick back vibes right next to Telefone and The Low End Theory. With amazing production, fantastic mixing even with the occasional slip, and of course the star herself there isn't anything to hate about this project. It carries you all the way from the intro to the outro. Mayah Huyana is poised to be a star.
Best Track: Inner City Dialogue
Worst Track: One of Us (but it's still great)
Rating: 10/10
Maya Huyana is an artist based out of San Bernadino, CA who's been making music since she was 4 years old. On Wednesday she'll be dropping her album Rebirth and we got an early peak today. With production from GOLDDIGGA and mixing and recording done with East of the River, Mayah put together a fantastic project for us to look into.
Kicking off with the title track "Rebirth" there is an instant hit of mellow melodic vibes similar to Badu, Aiko, and Noname. Mayah shows a limitless aptitude for lyrics and vocal performance. Admittedly the mixing on this track is slightly off perfect as there is a vocal over vocal dynamic that is slightly out of key in the melody but everything else about the song was so fantastic that you only find this is you are nitpicking. The following track "Inter City Dialouge" is simply amazing. The production is next level as GOLDDIGGA displays an ability to pick and piece together samples that make the song sound as if it were a live band performing but retain the aesthetic of sampled music which is incredible on its own two, but to bring it up a level Mayah layers on fantastic vocals and a strong flow that addresses difficult topics. All together this is one of the best songs I've heard in 2017 on a tape or an album. "Come Here" starts playing and you are brought into a hypnotic, beautiful, and smooth form of instrumentation with enticing story telling and a hook that you'll find yourself singing in the showers for days. Quickly I'd like to mention the fact that this project is layered with great bass lines that are on par with some of the latest jazz records in the mainstream and there isn't many better examples of this than the next track "Mayah's Jam" which you can listen to know on your streaming device. It's a gorgeous track that fits right in with the rest of this album with great flows, singing, and melodies you'll catch yourself humming. The next track is "Soul Food" which sticks with the strong formula of great production, strong lyrics with great messages, and we'll performed hooks to be remembered. Another slight mixing problem occurs on this song as the drums are fairly loud whereas I would've focused the sound on Mayah's vocals that are occasionally difficult to hear on this track. "One of Us" is our outro track. Again good production and a solid message performed well. It hits on that age old question on what if God was one of us. While I might hop to call this a cliche it's difficult due to the fact that every artist has their own take on this question and Mayah answers strong and even if her answer had been weak the song sounds so great that it would be difficult to criticize.
Overall I couldn't get enough of this project and when it drops on Wednesday the 25th of September you can bet that it'll be in my regular rotation of albums for kick back vibes right next to Telefone and The Low End Theory. With amazing production, fantastic mixing even with the occasional slip, and of course the star herself there isn't anything to hate about this project. It carries you all the way from the intro to the outro. Mayah Huyana is poised to be a star.
Best Track: Inner City Dialogue
Worst Track: One of Us (but it's still great)
Rating: 10/10