Cody Lidtke
Yaya Bey has confirmed details of her latest album. Do It Afraid will be released on June 20 via Drink Sum Wtr. The album features the singles “Dream Girl” and “Wake Up B*tch,” both of which can be heard below.
Do It Afraid arrives less than a year after Bey's 2024 album, Ten Fold. The new album features the previously release single “Merlot and Grigio,” as well as tracks featuring guests BADBADNOTGOOD, Father Philis, Rahrah Gabor, Nigel Hall, and jazz group Butcher Brown.
“I wrote this album from the most vulnerable parts of me, which contrary to what many people want to believe about me, is not my trauma but my desire to love, to feel joy...to be free," Bey says in a press statement. "In this life, pain and loss are promised to us; it takes real courage to dance in the face of the inevitable. To savor the now and make it beautiful. I come from a people who are masters at this. Onlookers like to make a spectacle of us. Rob of us of our nuance. But the truth is we are brave, resilient and joyful. I made this album for us. May we continue to do it afraid.”
Following the album’s release Bey will embark on a headline tour of North America in September. Tickets for all dates will be available from Friday, April 25th at 10am local time.
Yaya Bey tour dates
September 10 - Philadelphia, PA - Underground Arts
September 11 - Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall
September 12 - Brooklyn, NY - 99 Scott
September 13 - Washington, DC - Union Stage
September 16 - Atlanta, GA - Aisle 5
September 18 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
September 19 - Urbana, IL - PYGMALION
September 23 - Seattle, WA - Neumos
September 24 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios
September 26 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent
September 27 - Los Angeles, CA - Lodge Room
Do It Afraid artwork + tracklist
1. wake up b*tch
2. end of the world (feat. Nigel Hall & Butcher Brown)
3. real yearners unite
4. cindy rella
5. Raisins
6. spin cycle
7. dream girl
8. merlot and grigio (feat. Father Philis)
9. breakthrough
10. a surrender
11. in a circle
12. aye noche (feat. Rahrah Gabor & Exaktly)
13. no for real, wtf?
14. blicky
15. ask the questions
16. bella noches pt1
17. a tiny thing that’s mine
18. choice
