Introducing The Passionate Emerging Talent… Beckah Amani
For those that enjoy heartfelt and genre-bending music, look no further Beckah Amani is the artist for you. Born in Tanzania, the young talent always looked to her own life as inspiration for her creative stories. At eight years old, she and her family moved to Australia and were in a “constant movement” across the country throughout her childhood. Alongside her change in scenery, Beckah’s love for music began to blossom due to her musically vibrant home life. From Avril Lavigne and Queen to Nina Simone and the joyous sounds of the church choir, Beckah consumed an array of genres growing up. However, it was an episode of X-Factor Australia with Ed Sheeran performing his hit single ‘The A Team’ that truly inspired the creation of her music career.
After that fateful day, Beckah decided to dedicate her time to her growing musical talents while also immersing herself in UK based artists like Adele and Arlo Parks. After a few years of honing her craft, the young talent began to release her music to the world, including her hit single ‘STANDARDS‘ in 2020. Since then, she has continued to create dynamic and complex records that explore the topics of fear, growth and heartbreak. With her latest single, ‘I Don’t Know Why I Don’t Leave You’, Beckah continues to wear her heart on her sleeve while also prepping music listeners for what’s to come. We were able to chat with the emerging singer-songwriter about everything from her latest single, career beginnings, and so much more. Read the full interview below.
Heya Beckah! How’s everything been?
Hey! Things have been crazy – but the good kind.
How has 2022 been treating you?
2022 has been treating me well. I recently moved to London, which had been a dream I’ve had since I was 12, so it’s been a really exciting time.
Okay, let’s bring it back to your musical beginnings. Did you always know that you wanted to pursue music when you were a kid?
Music has always been a part of my life. It’s a huge part of my family’s blueprint, so I’ve always been connected to music on a personal level. I didn’t always know I wanted to do music. In fact after high school, I went to Uni and studied for a dual degree in Law and Psychology. I started writing songs when I was 12, and it wasn’t until I was 15 that it became clear to me that even if I didn’t become an artist, singing and writing would always be a part of my life. My older brother has always encouraged me to pursue music, even in those early teenage years, it, however, didn’t become clear to me that I wanted to pursue music in the future until I was 17.
Which genre or artist fueled your artistic inspiration?
My oldest brother played a huge role in what initially fueled my artistic inspiration. I grew up listening to everything from Kendrick Lamar, J Cole, Kanye West, Micheal Jackson, the Beatles, Ed Sheeran, Queen to more soulful leaning artists such as Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin, Bill Withers, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Bob Marley and Ella Fitzgerald. Although this is quite the collective mix of genres, these artists’ lyricism and storytelling is what drew me to them and what still influences me the most now.
We need to talk about your amazing new single ‘I Don’t Know Why I Don’t Leave You’. Absolutely fantastic. Can you take us through the creative process for the record?
Aww thank you! I had a lot of fun writing and recording the track. ‘I Don’t Know Why I Don’t Leave You’ is one of those tracks that came fast and easy for me. I was actually inspired to write it after watching a bunch of rom coms, initially twilight and later on classics such as Pride and Prejudice, The Notebook, Pretty Woman, and newcomers To All The Boys I Loved Before and Bridgeton. It really struck me that I’ve based my understanding of love and relationships on rom coms, fairytales and dramas that are so unrealistic. Like vampires – come on! It really bummed me out that, in reality, romantic relationships don’t unfold the way they do in these movies and shows, and the expectations they have set can’t be met. Not going to lie I am a little cynical when it comes to love so I wanted to make the song really metaphorical and construct a narrative around the song that related to everyone with the fact that love isn’t like Eden and often feels like chasing after shadows and fragments of people and experiences that a really aren’t but that were shaped and planted by these movies we grew up watching. The track was co-produced by Tony Buchen and Josh Foutain remotely over zoom. It was loads of fun working on this track with them!
What themes or meanings did you want to explore with the track?
Overall, the song hinges on the lyrics “chasing shadows in despair” and “I don’t know why I don’t leave you”. I wanted to explore two key meanings in this track.
The first one was how relationships in real life completely differ from those we grew up consuming in rom coms, teen dramas and books. Love isn’t safe, it isn’t Eden and more often than not isn’t marked by a grand gesture for someone to be the real thing or about someone giving up something to express to someone else that they love them. Expecting these things, in reality, is “chasing shadows in despair” – it’s reaching and hoping for a love that is made up and a person that is non-existent. When I’m writing, I get really deep when I’m finding and constructing metaphors. The pre-chorus of the song contains the lines “last July last July I learned”. I actually picked the month of July because when I was researching, I learned that July was originally the fifth month in the Roman Calendar called Quintilis (meaning fifth in Latin). When January and February were added to the calendar, it became the 7th month and re-named “July” in honour of Julius Caesar. Some sources go so far to claim that Julius Caesar changed the name himself because he was born in the 7th month. In the pre-chorus of the song, I wanted to use the month of July as a metaphor for the realisation that things aren’t as they seem and that there’s a big change that one goes through when they learn that love and relationships aren’t interlay what was presented – just like the history behind July itself.
Another interesting fact I learned about July is that lots of countries, including America, Belarus, Venezuela, Belgium, the Bahamas, and the Maldives all have their independence in July. In the bridge of the track, I talk about losing July in the sky. Here, I wanted to express how daydreaming and fantasising lets you down and makes you waste time-fighting a losing game because you’re essentially pining after a relationship and person that isn’t real. It’s pretty bleak – but hopefully, it allows the listener to gain independence from the idea that love and relationships are supposed to feel, unfold and look like what we grew up watching.
The second meaning I wanted to explore in this song is the track’s hook “I don’t know why I don’t leave you”. Looking inward to my own beliefs, I’m embarrassed to admit that coming to the above conclusions about the reality of love and relationships, a part of me still hopes and wants what the movies and dramas promised. A part of me wants to experience the whirlwind, over the top gestures and know what it feels to be someone’s entire world. Ending on a hopeful note, though and laying down what I hope listeners take away most from the song, in the altro I wrote: “I think this time I will leave you”. That is directly talking to these unrealistic expectations we’ve collected. Although uncertain with the “I think”, I want listeners to get independence and leave these false ideas we picked up behind. What I want for myself and my listeners is to build a love life that is real, honest and lovely in all the human ways that these rom coms, dramas and fairy tales will never be and never show us.
‘I Don’t Know Why I Don’t Leave You’ is your second release of 2022. How would you describe your music era?
I would describe this musical area as sonically exploring and experimenting with indie and alternative pop genres and afro-alternative Afro textures that are closer to my heritage. Lyrically in this era, I’m mainly looking inwardly reflecting on my experiences, my family, my dreams and mental health. I’m also looking outwardly, reflecting on the world around us, commenting on the imminent things that are happening and it’s like growing up in this crazy and social media-driven era.
In the last year and a half, you won both the APRA Professional Development Award for Popular Contemporary and the QMA Award for Emerging Artist of the Year. How does it feel to be the recipient of those two awards?
It’s honestly so touching and encouraging to have received these awards. It feels surreal! There’s something really special about being acknowledged and supported to continue sharing and putting your music in the world. After such a weird and hard period for music during COVID, it was an honour to be recognised and receive support from these key bodies to continue writing and recording music independently.
You’re quickly rising in the music sphere, what are your top 5 goals you want to achieve in the next five years?
Thank you!
Top five goes I want to achieve in the next five years is:
- Release an album that I’m really proud of and that’s a true representation of who I am
- Go on a world tour
- Sell out the 02 arena
- Still be mentally and creatively in love with music
- Be expanding on the understanding and expectations of what a black female artist is. I want to show that we are woman in pop, indie and alternative genres, not just soul and R&B.
What else can fans expect from Beckah Amani in the coming months?
In the next coming months, fans can expect a full body of work (Yeahyahhh!!) and lots more shows.
Check out Beckah Amani’s latest track ‘I Don’t Know Why I Don’t Leave You’ here or below.
