PHOTO CREDIT: Salomé Gomis-Trezise
Today, avant-garde global pop star Amaarae shares a pulsing, effortlessly sleek new single and video “Girlie-Pop”. Stamped with her signature softness and airy, hypnotic vocals, the single continues Amaarae’s recontextualization of Ghanaian and African music with pop and club sounds across time and space. The accompanying video, directed by Omar Jones, is a bold and sensual glimpse into the beat-driven ecstasy when two souls collide and the music provides the necessary alchemy, in and out of the club. “Girlie-Pop” follows the bold, world-building single “S.M.O”, released alongside the announcement of her highly anticipated new album BLACK STAR—out August 8th via Interscope Records. Listen to “Girlie-Pop” HERE and watch the visual HERE.
Amaarae shares about the new single, “‘Girlie Pop’ started as a freestyle over an open guitar on a magical night in Brazil! I wanted to make a song that embodies the feeling of a kiss from your favorite person in the world. We all dream of finding that one person who sends us into the stars with just a smile & peck on the lips! The ‘BLACK STAR’ album is all about fun and fantasy! I want “Girlie-Pop” to be the soundtrack for when you sit and day dream about your crush.”
In April, Amaarae made history at Coachella where she debuted as the first Ghanaian artist to grace the Indio stage. Her headline-making set saw the iconoclast playing energetic songs from fellow Ghanaian artists and exciting fans with unreleased previews of new music from BLACK STAR, in between her shaving her head on stage as a representation of “the new kind of freedom” the incoming era represents. She followed suit in June at Governor’s Ball, rocking the stage while Ghanaian fans waved their flags high, and at an electrifying set at Glastonbury. This summer and fall, she’s bringing her unforgettable stage presence to festivals around the globe including AfroNation, Lollapalooza, Osheaga, Lowlands, and more.
The celebratory festival performances follow the success of Amaarae’s sold-out tour behind Fountain Baby, which was praised as among the best albums of the year by Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and The New Yorker and was Metacritic’s #1 album of 2023. Featuring the effortlessly suave singles “Angels in Tibet” and “Reckless and Sweet,” the Afrobeats-flipping LP launched Amaarae into global pop stardom, landing her on the cover of NME, Paste, and Clash, as well as touring with Sabrina Carpenter, support billing on Childish Gambino’s tour, and an H&M x Mugler campaign.
Amaarae has long championed self-expression ever since breaking out with her 2017 single “Fluid,” an ode to living in between different labels and modes. Her astronomical rise arrived with the release of her 2020 debut album THE ANGEL YOU DON’T KNOW, boosted by the now-platinum, globally charting “Sad Girlz Luv Money (Remix)” featuring Kali Uchis and Moliy. She stepped into the Black Panther cinematic universe with “A Body, A Coffin,” her contribution to Marvel’s 2022 Wakanda Forever Prologue EP. And she’s since exhibited her versatility through collaborations with Childish Gambino, Stormzy, Janelle Monáe, 6LACK, Kaytranada, Babyface, and Tiwa Savage, among others.
PRE-SAVE/PRE-ORDER BLACK STAR
https://amaarae.lnk.to/BlackStar
LISTEN TO “GIRLIE-POP”
LINK
WATCH THE OFFICIAL VISUAL FOR “GIRLIE-POP”
LINK
LISTEN TO “S.M.O.”
https://Amaarae.lnk.to/SMO
WATCH THE OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO FOR “S.M.O.”
https://Amaarae.lnk.to/SMO/YouTubeMusic
