‘Black Star’ Is Amaarae’s Audacious, Genre-Bending Masterpiece — and It Drops Friday
By Something CuratedSet for release this Friday, 8 August, Black Star is Ghanaian-American artist Amaarae’s third studio album, and her most ambitious project yet. In the two years since Fountain Baby, Amaarae has evolved from a cult figure of hyper-stylised alt-Afropop to a global force: playing Coachella, opening for Childish Gambino and Sabrina Carpenter, and holding her own on some of the world’s biggest stages.
The new album’s title functions as a triple entendre: a nod to Ghana’s national symbol, a reference to her own status as a diasporic Black artist, and an acknowledgement of the Black origins of the electronic and dance music that shapes the record. “Black Star to me is the genesis of me feeling sure and confident in myself as a grown woman,” she told Rolling Stone. “My soul can’t rest until I feel like I’ve made a project that resonates in a really huge way globally.”
Where Fountain Baby felt polished and deliberately provocative, Black Star carries a looser, more playful energy. The production is unpredictable — rooted in Ghanaian highlife and baile funk, but filtered through the kind of electronic futurism that defines Amaarae’s sound. Co-produced with her long-time collaborator Kyu Steed, the album took shape across continents, including sessions in Brazil with producers like el Guincho and Bnyx.
The project is filled with carefully chosen collaborators who help expand Amaarae’s stylish world. PinkPantheress lends her voice to “Kiss Me Thru the Phone pt.2,” while Bree Runway and Starkillers help power “Starkilla” — a track so direct and audacious that industry execs reportedly asked Amaarae to tone it down. She didn’t. “It’s just nice sometimes to say the thing as it is,” she said.
Naomi Campbell appears on “ms60,” and Charlie Wilson joins on “Dream Scenario,” one of the album’s most surprising pairings. Even Dove Cameron gets a tongue-in-cheek reference.
Lead single “S.M.O.” — with its highlife backbone and shimmering production — set the tone early. Directed by LA-based filmmaker Omar Jones, with Amaarae dressed in London-based Ethiopian designer FEBEN, the video draws on the visual language of Donna Summer and Janet Jackson’s Control era, framing the Black body as powerful and joyful.
More than anything, Black Star marks a turning point. For Amaarae, the tension she once felt between her artistic instincts and Ghana’s musical mainstream has begun to resolve. Her sound hasn’t softened — but her footing is firmer. “Ghana comes first,” she says, “but it manifests in many different ways.” Through Black Star, Amaarae isn’t just showing where she’s from — she’s showing what’s possible.
Feature image via @amaarae