Album Review: Fountain Baby by Amaarae

Amaarae pushes Afrobeats beyond its normal limits, sprinkling dashes of American pop and Caribbean dancehall through her infectious contributions. The Ghanaian singer, songwriter, and engineer has spent her life, traveling from the East Coast to West Africa and locations in between, which have built the foundation for her self-described Afro-fusion creations. "I experiment with so many elements but the drums are usually afro if you pay attention," she tells Unorthodox Reviews.

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To Amaarae – born Ama Serwah Genfi – pop is more than a moodboard reference but a connective between past and future versions of herself. The Bronx-born Accra-raised artist hasn’t shied away from invoking turn-of-the-millennia "cool girls" like Gwen Stefani, Missy or Britney in her work; 2017's 'Passionfruit Summers ' established her nightshade alté-ego with a predilection for frivolity, and debut album 'The Angel You Don't Know ' subverted those nocturnal notes with bombast and synthesizers, spinning a hyperreal film of bedazzled bad bitches and "sad girlz" cruising the streets of Beverly Hills to sate their expensive compulsions. On new album 'Fountain Baby ', Amaarae notches up the crossover pop synthesis to factor fifty, with a soundboard that vacillates between swaggering reggae, syrupy funk, distorted rock, polyphonic rap and sensual afro-swing.

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