Early in her career, Amaarae largely stood out for her earworm melodies and whispery vocals, which often cooed over airy Afropop-inspired beats. Her 2020 debut album, ‘The Angel You Don’t Know,’ however, represented a shift in her approach, ambitiously fusing genres like Afropop, sultry R&B, Hip-Hop and Pop-Rock into something that gave an exciting glimpse into what the future of Pop could sound like. The album’s runaway hit single, “SAD GIRLZ LUV MONEY,” provided Amaarae with significant momentum and a bigger platform to push the envelope even further with her 2023 sophomore ‘Fountain Baby,’ an opulent and sonically diverse album, which positioned her as a new gravitational force in Pop.

On her latest studio album, ‘BLACK STAR,’ Amaarae shows how far out there she’s willing to go, exploring a wide range of dance genres like Jersey Club, Zouk, Detroit Techno, Baile Funk, Deep House, and Kpalongo with equal enthusiasm and reverence, while painting a fuller picture of herself as a Pop savant with no limits. There’s arguably no dull moment across the album’s 44-minute runtime, but the best Amaarae songs tend to be the ones where she sounds like she’s having an intimate conversation with her listener: lush, delicate, and most importantly, sensual. That’s exactly what “B2B” represents. 

“B2B, bi to bi / Fuck on me, fuck you back / I unleash, you attach /Fuck on me, fuck you back,” she sings softly in the opening seconds of “B2B,”  setting the tone for what is a deviously hypnotic and sexy record that marries the reverie of Deep House with the blissful melodies of South Africa’s Amapiano sub-genre. It’s the kind of song that immediately evokes strobing lights and the humid embrace of a crowded dancefloor, thanks in part to the genius of frequent collaborator Kyu Steed and Ape Drums, the newest member of Major Lazer.  

If the first half of the track’s pulsating rhythm is fit for the function, its second half, ushered in by elegant guitar strings, is fit for the wind down, the ride home, where you’re staring out the window, exhausted from the night’s activity. Amaarae’s helium vocals would be fit for company as she gently contemplates the complexities of a steamy affair. ‘Are you my virtue or vice?’ she sings with a dose of skepticism in her voice. 

On an intricate body of work where Amaarae manages to infuse most of the songs with a wealth of influences–from the expansive feature list to sampling and interpolating a couple of niche and popular records–“B2B” stands out as arguably the most straightforward track on ‘BLACK STAR.’ It’s breezy in the way a lot of earlier Amaarae tracks were, but also a little more sophisticated than your run-of-the-mill Dance bop, highlighting just how unique the Ghanian-American star’s style has grown to become. 

Shortly after the release of ‘BLACK STAR,’ Amaarae took to her active X account to give her opinion on her new album. “icl BLACK STAR is my personal favorite amaarae album,” she stated in one tweet like an excited fan account. In another tweet, where she gave her initial thoughts on the album, she lists “B2B” as one of her personal favourites from the album, saying “I THINK B2B IS POSSIBLY THE BEST EXPRESSION OF THE SIGNATURE AMAARAE SOUND (OR ATLEAST MY FAV).” We’re inclined to agree, Amaarae.  

Listen to ‘Black Star‘ here.