Yaya Bey - raisins (Official Video)

Picture Credit: Cody Lidtke

Yaya Bey Shares Soulful New Single “raisins” Ahead of Upcoming Album do it afraid

Yaya Bey returns with “raisins,” the final single ahead of her highly anticipated new album do it afraid, out June 20 via drink sum wtr. Produced by Grammy-nominated DJ Harrison, the track is a tender, courageous meditation on dreaming through doubt—what Bey calls “a pursuit of love, joy and freedom with the full knowing that there will also be pain.”

Inspired by Langston Hughes’ iconic poem Harlem, “raisins” captures the emotional core of the album: the act of holding space for hope, even when it hurts. “It’s a surrender,” Bey explains. “It’s me giving myself permission to dream… maybe the real joy is not in the materialisation but in the dreaming itself.”

do it afraid promises a rich blend of R&B, hip-hop, jazz, soul and dance, with contributions from BADBADNOTGOOD, Butcher Brown, and others. Following a performance at NYC’s Governors Ball, Bey will take the album on tour this fall with a coast-to-coast run wrapping up in LA on September 27.

With past critical acclaim from Pitchfork, NPR, and ESSENCE, Yaya Bey continues to carve out space as one of the most vital voices in modern R&B.

Stream “raisins” now and mark your calendar for do it afraid—a fearless step forward from an artist who’s never stopped dreaming.