Mereba, the mystic crooner who contributed to the group success of Spillage Village’s spiritual 2020 album Spilligion, is preparing to release her EP AZEB. She released the video for the lead single, “Rider,” today, in which she talks about her desire for a limitless yet significant love — someone who will be there for her through thick and thin, a “rider.” Couples dance in the desert as Mereba sings before a beautiful sunset in the song, which is a sun-washed depiction of such passion.
Mereba is best known for her contributions to Spillage Village songs like “Hapi” and her latest performance on Reason’s “Westside,” but she’s a talented musician in her own right. Those in the know praised her debut album The Jungle Is The Only Way Out, and with R&B’s growing popularity in the pop culture landscape, it’s only a matter of time before she earns equal recognition for her solo talents.
She outlined the process of recording the upcoming EP in a recent interview with Vince Staples, with whom she collaborated on the Queen & Slim soundtrack song “Yo Love.”
It’s named Azeb, and it’s my middle name, as well as the name my father gave me. It’s a name from Ethiopia… When someone asks, “How do I get to this region of Ethiopia?” in a town or village, they’ll say “azeb” and point to a spot in the sky. Last year, I felt like the songs I was writing were assisting me in figuring out and sorting through my feelings on what was going on in the world. They began to act as my guide. I was also inspired by Nina Simone, who said, “It’s an artist’s duty to reflect the times.” I always end up putting current events, or things that are happening in the world, into my music. But this project also encompasses the more universal parts of human existence, like being in love and being hopeful in the midst of whatever else is going on, because that’s a survival tactic, to have hope and faith that things are going to get better.
