NATIVE Team Picks: The Best Music Videos of the 2010s

Mereba exudes a palpable warmth. When she speaks, as she did with me via Zoom one evening in late January, she’s gentle and perceptive, speaking in soft, meandering passages that paint an intimate portrait of the LA-based singer’s mind. Similarly, her stirring discography, which dates back to 2013, evokes a keen sense of serene intimacy. “I’m inspired by those little moments in life where you’re like “Ah that’s really beautiful,”” she tells me halfway into our conversation, making sense of the ethereal quality that her music possesses. “It could be an interaction between two people, it could be something in nature, it could be a memory I have. Those are the moments that drive me to go get my guitar and write a song.”

The 34-year-old singer, songwriter, producer and instrumentalist has been writing songs for as long as she can remember. Growing up between Alabama, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, as well as an unintended one-year stint in her father’s native Ethiopia, ensured that Mereba picked up a wealth of influences that would go on to inform her richly diverse and understated sound. After years living across multiple cities, she finally settled in Atlanta where she became a staple in the city’s indie music circuit. “There, I met my peers who I made music with and are still my peers to this day. People like J.I.D, 6LACK and my crew. We all were just coming up during a really rich time of music there so that was a big part of my journey,” she reminisces fondly. 

In the years that Mereba lived in Atlanta, she released 2013’s ‘Room For Living’ and ‘Kotton House Vol 1,’ two extended plays that neatly outline the foundations of the balmy and eclectic style that she would perfect years later, leaving ample room for her soothing vocals and evocative songwriting to shine. She also joined Spillage Village, a musical collective that comprises others like Earth Gang and JID, contributing to various releases like ‘Bears Like This Too Much’ and the critically acclaimed ‘Spilligion.’ Following her time in Atlanta, Mereba moved again, this time to Los Angeles, where she signed her first major record deal and released her debut album ‘The Jungle Is The Only Way Out.’

Since the release of ‘The Jungle Is The Only Way Out’ in 2019, Mereba has continued to hone her unique sound, continually experimenting and ironing out the rich textures of her temperate style on subsequent releases like 2021’s ‘AZEB.’ Ahead of the release of ‘The Breeze Grew A Fire,’ her first project in four years, we sat down with the LA-based singer to discuss the story behind her well-received debut, her various influences as well as the process of putting together her highly-anticipated new album. 

This is your first album in about five years. How are you feeling?

I feel really excited. I’m definitely excited to give my music back to the world again. I’m also ready for connection, performing the songs, and sharing these new stories. 

You’ve been making music for a long time now, but do you still feel any nerves before a major release like this?

I don’t know if it’s nerves. I think I feel anxious about the fact that the music is being released and people are going to hear it. But I guess I’m anxious in a good way for them to hear the music, to get to experience what I’ve been toiling away at and what I’ve been excited about for a while. It’s more like a good anxiety. 

I think the first time I came across your music was in 2019. I heard “Heatwave” with 6LACK off of your debut album ‘The Jungle Is The Only Way Out.’ I believe that album was sort of a breakthrough moment for you. Can you tell me a bit about how it came together?

That album coming together was quite a journey. I started ‘The Jungle Is The Only Way Out’ years before it came out. I had left Atlanta and moved to L.A at this point. I didn’t know so many people when I just moved and so I was kind of starting over in certain ways. I was writing a lot of songs that felt really powerful to me but they were sonically different from what I used to make before. I was also learning how to produce, I was in Ableton learning how to make beats and just produce my music. Because I didn’t know so many people, I couldn’t outsource some of these things so I was just experimenting on my sound on my own.

Over the years, the community that I was a part of in Atlanta, everyone started finding their way in music but we still stayed closely in touch even though I had moved to L.A. I featured on a song with J.I.D and that kind of got me back into making music properly again because at that point, I was working random jobs, my car got taken and I had to start taking the bus to work. I was living a completely different life. It was my friends that put me back in the zone. They would invite me to sessions and just remind me that I wanted to do this music thing. Then I started putting together songs I had made over the years like “Sandstorm” and “Heatwave” with 6LACK which we made way before the album came out and even my solo songs like “Black Truck.” Most of the songs on that album had come from that period where I was struggling but knowing I was meant for music somehow. 

How many years did it take to put your first album together?

I’ll say about four to five years. They say you write your first album for your whole life. “Highway 10” is the first song I made on that album. I made that song in 2014 and the album came out in 2019. In the years before the album came out I was signed to a bad record deal and I couldn’t get out, I couldn’t release music. All I could do was just create and that ended up forcing me to just hone in on my sound.

After your debut, you released an EP titled ‘AZEB’ two years later. Listening to that project, it felt lighter than your debut which was a lot darker and more melancholic. Do you remember what headspace you were in when you made this EP?

I was definitely feeling a lot lighter when I was making ‘AZEB.’ I felt like I had shed a lot of the weight that I carried during all those years of uncertainty. I was in a much more hopeful place when I was making one-half of the project. The other half was made during the early days of the pandemic so it was like a mix. Songs like “Rider,” “Beretta,” and “My Moon,” those songs represent beautiful, light type feelings to me while some of the other songs like “News Come,” and “Another Kin” are more intense lyrically and sonically. 

Let’s talk about ‘The Breeze Grew A Fire.’ How did you land on that as the title for your second album? 

The making of that title was different from how I titled my other projects. It didn’t come to me right away and I decided to not force it, I believed it was going to come eventually. So the making of this album has always felt very gentle. In contrast to what I had been through for so many years, I felt like I was in a much softer space creating this album and this feeling of a breeze just kept coming to me. It was also kind of like springtime going into the summer and the idea of a breeze became so prominent that I was going to title the album breeze. But as I continued on the journey of finishing it, it felt like the album was saying something a bit more. I realized that the album wasn’t just about all these gentle feelings and relationships I’m singing about like friendship, family, and my son but these things also inspire me to live with purpose, conviction and to have a spark in me. Things that make people “strong” are inspired by these little moments and experiences that we have and less by the force of trying to make a fire forcefully. 

You co-produced “Phone Me” and “Counterfeit,” the lead singles for this project and you’ve also produced a lot of your older stuff as well. I’m curious to know how taking the reins on the production side affects your music-making process in general.

I got really into producing during that period when I felt lost in life. I got into Ableton, playing the guitar on my computer, sampling my voice and just experimenting. So songs that I produced from ‘The Jungle Is The Only Way Out’ like “Sandstorm” and “Kinfolk,” were me experimenting a lot with learning how to produce. With this new album, the first two singles were heavily produced by my co-producer Sam Hoffman. When he sends me things that I like, I’ll add things to them and it could be the opposite as well where I produce a song and I’ll have him or another friend add something to it. That process is personal because I could completely be in my world and get the feelings that I want to convey out through production as well as writing the song out lyrically. When I unlocked that part of myself, it felt like my whole life that’s what I’ve been wanting to do. To be able to make the music arrangements and compositions come to life. 

A lot of the time I would start with a simple beat or drum loop and I’ll build chords over it with my guitar. I experiment with writing when it’s bare and then fill in the production as I write the song. They’re a very interwoven process. 

I’ve read that you’re heavily influenced by legendary acts like Stevie Wonder and Lauryn Hill. Are there other acts that inspire you when it comes to the production side of music specifically?

That’s a great question. In certain ways, I’ll say it’s the same people that I look up to because most of them produce. Interestingly enough, what I love most about these musicians is that they are very involved in the sonics of the music they’re making. So the people that you mentioned, like Stevie Wonder who mentored me and encouraged me to continue on the path of producing my music versus being a singer who works with a producer. I feel like it’s important to the language of an artist to at least know how to contribute in some way to the sonics of their music. 

I’ll say Quincy Jones is the blueprint for me just because of the span of work that he did. He’s the concept of producer I’d like to work towards in my life.

Do you have a favourite memory from creating ‘The Breeze Grew A Fire’?

There are a few. There was a time when I made this song on the album called “Hawk.” The song is dedicated to a really dear friend of mine who passed away unexpectedly in 2021. It was not easy to write and when I first wrote the song, it was sad, slow and reflective of the whole situation. I listened to it after I made it and I started thinking about my friend and the things that he liked. He was a very expressive and hilarious person who loved dancing and dance music. At that moment a light bulb went up and I felt like the song needed to be more of a dance song because I wanted to make something that he would love and not something he would think is corny. It was a really beautiful moment musically and personally. 

If there’s one thing you would like your fans or listeners to take away from ‘A Breeze Grew A Fire,’ what would it be? 

I hope it brings a sense of comfort and warmth. I also hope it tells a clear story of what matters to me. I just really hope it makes people feel better, that’s really it. I think it’s one of those albums where it’s a personal album for me and I think it’s meant for personal moments too. I hope it lives in people’s lives in comforting ways.

Listen to ‘A Breeze Grew A Fire’ here

Asake broke the internet when he unveiled his new tattoos earlier this year, and he’s doubling down while ushering in the GIRAN Republic era. On “Military”, Asake ditches the log drums & Amapiano-inspired beats that paved the way to his rapid ascent to stardom. Rapping over stripped back production dominated by a live drum loop, he picks up where he left off sonically on ‘LUNGU BOY’, drawing inspiration from his Hip-Hop influences, as he delivers a defiant, heartfelt battle-cry to his fans and doubters alike.

For the last few months, rumours have swirled around Asake on the gossip blogs, on everything from who he’s dating to his record label situation to his physical appearance, with fans, critics and disgruntled ex team members all throwing in their two cents. Since his emergence in the limelight, Asake has been a man of few words – we should know, we did his first ever magazine interview back in 2022. But on this track, he addresses the chatter head on, opening the song dismissively rapping “ Awon lo lenu won koma so lo/ Tio ba affect bank me, ko ma soro” loosely translated to “let them keep talking, if it doesn’t affect my bank account, there’s nothing to say”. He goes on to flex his financial muscle above everyone in his “set”, despite being “low-key”, while affirming he could drop an album tomorrow with no tracklist, and it would still slap. 

He takes a break from the braggadocio between verses to directly shout out his mentor Olamide, the man who gave him his big break. While it does appear their business relationship may have run its course, the mercurial artist is making it clear he remembers how he got here. The Asake & YBNL run will be studied for years to come. In the midst of the continued rise in global consumption of Nigerian music, Asake hilariously raps “Oyinbo koro lenu mi”, a reminder that he will not be diluting his sound for the benefit of our friends in the West. 

Quietly dropping the track exclusively on YouTube & Audiomack a couple of days after the 2025 GRAMMY ceremony, in which he was nominated for the second year running, this response may have gone over the heads of those who lurk in the comment sections of the gossip blogs. But it is the most Asake response we could have expected, isn’t it? On his own terms, in his own native tongue, he pulls no punches as he ushers in a new era of independence.

This morning, Asake released another record, the Magicsticks-produced “WHY LOVE”,which notably comes under his new imprint Giran Republic. Reverting to a more familiar sonic cocktail of pulsating log-drums and choral vocals, he sings melodiously,“You know I’m a Soulja boy, but in your case, I’ll calm down.” The duality of man. 

The rumours will keep swirling and people will keep talking, as they tend to do when you reach the heights the Lungu Boy has soared to. And for all the aesthetic change and talk of a new era, it appears Asake is going to continue to do what he has done more consistently than nearly every artist in Nigeria since his mainstream emergence in 2022: drown out the noise with new music.

The most distinctive quality of Jordan Adetunji’s music is how eclectic it sounds: it’s a melting pot that blends the jerky rhythms of club Rap with elements of Rock, R&B, Jersey Club and Afropop, creating addictive bitesize records that are inventive and strikingly dynamic. His growing discography, which currently includes a handful of singles and a debut mixtape, houses seductive and melodic rap songs that owe much of their influence to Cash Cobain’s raunchy interpretation of Drill music. The animated records erupt with the frenzy of hardcore Punk as well as other colourful and vibrant sounds that could easily soundtrack an anime fight scene. This comprehensive approach to making music that adopts influences from an array of established and obscure styles was inspired by the video game soundtracks Adetunji heard as a kid. 

“Growing up, I played a lot of games like Need For Speed, Fight Night, Tekken, and a bunch of role-playing games, and I heard a lot of music in these games that inspired me to start making my own music as I grew older,” he tells me during a Google Meet conversation one afternoon in late November.

Adetunji’s clear aspiration to stretch his music out across genres and play with form is what birthed 2023’s ‘ROCK ‘N’ RAVE,’ his official debut project that manages to neatly encapsulate much of what he is about. Tender opener “INAUGURAL EPISODE,” is a slow, heartfelt confessional that’s buoyed by elegant violin strings and serves as a soft introduction into his eclectic and distorted world before listeners are immediately jolted to live with the insistent and booming bounce on “DECAY.”. This arbitrary style also birthed “Kehlani,” his inescapable breakout single which took off worldwide and peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The single also recently earned him a 2025 Grammy nomination for Best Melodic Rap Performance where he is up against heavyweights like Beyonce and Future, highlighting just how far he’s come in a short amount of time. 

Long before the 25-year-old became a Grammy-nominated act, he was just an inquisitive teenager with a knack for tinkering with different sounds and melodies. Born in London, Adetunji lived in one of the city’s largest commercial areas for about 10 years before relocating to Belfast, the capital city of Northern Ireland, with his mum and siblings. Even though he had been fascinated by the idea of making music as a kid living in London, it wasn’t until he got to Belfast that he began to cut his teeth as a budding musician. There, he picked up music classes in high school, specifically learning how to play the trumpet. 

“From there on, I started trying to record my own music on my mum’s laptop. After a while, I got my own small computer, a cheap interface and then I started recording songs and putting them online,” he tells me of his early journey. 

After posting a bunch of spirited rap videos on Facebook, Adetunji put out his first official single in 2020 titled “Close 2 You.” The Dancehall-inspired single was followed by the frenetic, Rock-influenced “Wokeup!” just months after, quickly briefing early listeners that he wasn’t one to boxed in. British singer and songwriter Oli Sykes, who is most famous for being the frontman of the Rock band Bring Me the Horizon, happened to be one of Adetunji’s early admirers and he was intrigued by the then-upcoming singer’s Alt-Rock and Rap experimentation. He reached out to Adetunji and subsequently got him a deal with RCA Records. 

Even after his recent signing with 300 Entertainmet/Warner UK Adetunji continued to record music in his bedroom, just like he did as a kid, tinkering and incorporating even more disparate elements to his already expansive sound. It was during one of these recording sessions that the framework of what would eventually morph into “Kehlani” was created.

“I had always wanted to write a song about someone who embodies a certain powerfulness and someone who is strong and stands for what they believe in. So I just ended up putting Kehlani’s name in when I was making the song,” he tells me, speaking of the inspiration behind the song. 

“My brother was there with me while I was making “Kehlani” and I remember debating if I should keep the name in or take it out because I didn’t know what the reaction would be,” he continues. Unsure of how people would take to the song, Adetunji posted a snippet of the song on TikTok and to his surprise, it immediately took on a life of its own. This encouraged him to complete the song which he released shortly after and the rest is history. 

Following the success of “Kehlani,” Adetunji shows no signs of taking his foot off the gas. He secured a highly anticipated remix with the alluring and self-assured inspiration of his Grammy-nominated single before closing out 2024 with the saccharine, Lil Baby-assisted “Options” which is cut from the same cloth as his breakout record. Speaking of how the collaboration came about, he explains that the Atlanta rapper was one of the first people to reach out to him after he released “Kehlani.” 

“He showed me mad love. I finally met him in London and he said he would like to work with me. I sent him two songs that I had recorded and he dropped a verse on one of them,” he explains.

Looking to further acquaint his newfound audience with his eclectic soundscape and to cement his status as one of the most inventive new acts on the scene, the Grammy nominee recently announced the imminent arrival of his latest mixtape titled ‘A Jaguar’s Dream.’ 

“A Jaguar, to me, is someone who moves through spaces and conquers every space it enters. This is how I feel with my sound constantly evolving and conquering every space I enter into,” he explained in an official press release. “A Jaguar’s Dream is an entry into my love life and my world of thoughts through sound and emotion. A real manifestation of my dreams I wish to make reality.”