Have you ever fallen down a soulfully melodic rabbit hole (with a splash of a euphorically xperimental spin), well if so; that’s the beauty of Yaz León. Hailing from South London, this artist is offering something new that anyone with a real taste for meaningful sound should be buying. Her gig at East London’s beloved cultural safe-haven Next Door Records Two (NDR2), was a raw display of her blossoming skill as an artist and that one-of-a-kind musical vitality that only comes around every once in a while…In short, there’s something truly special about this one.
The Iraqi-Spanish, producer-songwriter, constantly pushing the envelope, priding herself on
“continuously learning and developing through experimentation within a diverse range of genres”. Honestly, it would hurt to put her into a box because, to be honest, her music is more to be felt than to be classified. Caught somewhere in a junction between the vulnerable spirit that is neo-soul and the sultry tones of R&B, you may be lucky enough to find a lonely Yaz León, concocting a sonic experience uniquely distinct from anything else that the underground London scene provides – envisioned from just the four walls of her bedroom.
This distinction could be a prevailing remnant of her cultural background. As an artist she montages both identities into a collage of musical references to pick and choose from, as with her EP ‘IT’S ONLY TAKE OUT MA’ s closing track DUNYA, having a verse sung entirely in Spanish. Her familial influences seep through her sound, crafting her genre-bending persona and relatably intimate lyricism. With her mother standing front and center throughout the entirety of Yaz’s Next Door Records Two performance, one felt as if she was allowing us into that intimate world of hers, opening up an emotionally charged piece of her inner-self, for each of us to have a dialogue with.
However, Yaz is clear to not bind herself within the restraints that are her cultural origin. In an
interview with ACM, she wisely states: “To rely on my heritage entirely as my ‘brand’ is reductionist of myself. Whatever uniqueness I have comes from other stuff too, like my life experiences, friends, and education… I can imagine my sexuality having had some effect”. At the end of the day, this artist sees no bounds to her storytelling and how she seeks to captivate her audiences. She pulls from whatever sources charge her sound and the messaging with which she wishes to communicate to us. In true do-it-yourself fashion, she lets her creativity roam freely, picking up bits of nostalgia and sentimental spells of self-discovery to steer her creation process. Quite reminiscent of the resilient legacies of neo-soul/hip-hop artists before her, from Winehouse and Badu to the likes of a Childish Gambino.
Supported by fellow London upcomers, such as Irish-Nigerian BUKKY (with which she released the bouncy summer-jam that is “4th Wall” earlier in the year), the evening supplied an impermeable musical journey and we were all along for the ride. The takeaway that we can draw from León is the resonating power of maintaining one’s authenticity and a bold resilience towards expression of the self. It is from that same place of expression that this budding talent has moved a sound confined to the insides of her mind and bedroom, into a dynamic tapestry, commanding stages across London and (soon) beyond.
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