Blue by Yaya Bey, a song on my mind

Baby, you look blue

There’s been a lot of songs about healing on the radio. Particularly over the past few years. Lots of personal journeys about the biggest pop stars in the world learning to love themselves. It’s now common for the biggest names in music to get increasingly vulnerable™ with every album cycle. There has been an expectation of performing pain and survival for the audience. Until recently, it didn’t matter how Rare (2020, Selena Gomez) the artist was, they were expected to try and brighten up their days with some Eternal Sunshine (2024, Ariana Grande) to give themselves Justice (2021, Justin Bieber).

This wasn’t always the case. Pop music has increasingly reflected inward to the artist performing, but the standard for a very long time was music about the audience. It was not about personal emotion, but more universal feelings that were being described to you. Confessional songwriting was a much rarer quirk for pop stars at the time, and usually suggested a cult of personality for the artist. It was the marker of the rock star more than the radio friendly people on MTV. There’s a reason Britney Spears said she is stronger than yesterday while Christina Aguilera sang about you being beautiful.

I think my favourite, heavy handed version of this is Mariah Carey’s classic ballad Hero (1993). It’s bombastic and cinematic - the song was originally written for a film - which allows it to be for literally anyone. The track is loud in it’s emotional weight. You are both the damsel in distress and the hero. The hero comes along to save you. You cast your fears aside, no matter how hopeless the situation is. The hero lies in you. You transcend.

But in the pop world’s increasing selfishness, that need for music that speaks directly to the audience still exists. Yes, it’s fun that Tate McRae thinks of herself as a sexual sports car, but what am I? Nobody is looking into my soul and as a consumer I demand my musical horoscope be spelled out to me in great detail.

Enter Yaya Bey.

Share

Thirty-Five year old singer-songwriter Yaya Bey is a New York native and the daughter of hip-hop artist Grand Daddy I.U. Since 2020, she has steadily been releasing really good R&B music that I hadn’t heard until earlier this year. A lot of her music is about hope.

It really does permeate her output. This deep sense that more has to come than what is already there. Good things are here, they’re coming, and you just need to work through the hard stuff. It’s a warmth that sits against often very frustrating situations. But also, a lot of her music is that more personal songwriting I was talking about. It is appropriate for her chosen genre and well made, but not scratching an itch for me. For the record, I really love raisins from her 2025 album and would heartily recommend it as a great intro to her catalogue.

Then, on a New Music Friday earlier this year, she dropped Blue (2026), the lead single from her latest album Fidelity (2026).

I feel like I’m the only person obsessed with this song, which makes no sense to me. A gentle lullaby of an easy listening pop track, it is a move towards a more polished sound for Bey without dropping the humanity of her voice. A more radio forward mix of the track would have smoothed the rougher edges, but the vocal production instead uses harmonies and stacking to her unique maintain texture. The way her voice is handled reminds me of Macy Gray, although Bey’s tone is much more pleasant to the ears.

But it is the lyrical content that I love. Writing that feels a friend giving great advice that honestly assesses the problem rather than trying to skip straight to the resolution. It’s conversational in structure, directly addressing the listener without being overly confrontational. When she tells you to “get over yourself” it feels like encouragement, rather than a put down. That warmth in her tone really does make the delivery even more effective.

So go ahead and cry about
Baby, don’t be shy about it
We can see it all over you
It’s written all over your face
Baby, you look blue

Bey sings like a smile, and the calming vibes of the song are stacked from the production upwards. In a sea of music that is either produced to sound like a kitchen in a tornado, a Vegas revue for senior citizens, or the beeping of a submarine, the simplicity of the instrumental here is gorgeous and classic. The light touches of flute throughout are especially pretty, but everything just sounds lovely.

This song has stuck with me through the first half of the year, and I cannot recommend it or Yaya Bey enough. This track is one of the best of the year. If you haven’t already done so, check it out today.