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The same with my mom. She was traumatized by people in her community talking bad about her. She had a lot of trust issues, but I understand because life has beaten me up, being a Black woman. I don’t talk to them because I can’t survive with them in my life. My mom would bring me down. And it doesn’t mean that she doesn’t want to love me. She just doesn’t have the tools. There’s a lot of grief in that. But if anything, it helps me want more for Black women.
What have you learned about what it takes to have a healthy relationship in love and with yourself?
Anything that’s for me, I don’t have to chase it. And it doesn’t have to be that hard. And my worth isn’t measured by how much I can endure—I don’t have to endure anything, actually. I had always seen women be congratulated for putting up with shit, that was the system that they were valued by. Especially in the hood. Like the “down ass bitch,” that whole narrative is what I had seen. I got tired of being sad. And it’s OK to want more. And maybe more is not gonna come from this place where I’m trying to get it. That was a hard pill to swallow. But I feel relieved that I don’t have that cloud over me.
The North Star song “meet me in brooklyn” is summery and flirty. It feels like being at a carnival. It feels light.
My dad used to play a lot of reggae in the house. He thinks he’s Jamaican, and I’m like, “We’re Bajan, not Jamaican.” My aunt Wendy helped raise me, and she’s very Bajan, very Caribbean, so there was always reggae, lovers rock, and soca playing. And growing up in New York, the first parties I went to were reggae parties. With that song, I was reflecting on when you meet a guy, and at first, it’s fun, before it gets serious and all the shit happens. My grandmother is from South Carolina, and I grew up very Southern Black, but I also grew up very Caribbean. I’m deeply both of those things, so I wanted that sound on the album. And I wanted it to feel like summer in New York and times where you’re hopeful that this great person you just met could be something nice.
What do you hope for this summer?
I’m really excited. I’m trying not to have expectations and to make the most of whatever happens. I don’t want to get invested in outcomes. I just want to be able to do anything in any space but not necessarily live in that space. I want to float in and out. I would do a song with a mainstream artist, but I don’t want to be, like, gang-gang with anyone. I think that’s limiting. It’s a lotta pressure right now. Am I gonna make a living off my art? I’m in that place where it’s very possible. It’s right there. It’s a lot of faith. It’s a process. I think it’s happening.
Photographer: Eric McNatt. Fashion stylist: Nick Browne. Photo assistant: Sarah Dylan Siegel. Photo direction/production: Jenny Aborn. Yaya Bey in jewelry store: dress from Flying Solo designed by Mara the Label, sunglasses by VADA, bracelet by Isa by Silvia D’Avila, shoes by Reike Nen; in front of candy dispensers: top by ALLINALIU, pants by Samantha Black, shoes by Normandy Alberti, earrings by Isa by Silvia D’Avila; striped outfit: dress by Samantha Black, shoes by Normandy Alberti, sunglasses by Spec_ial
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