When Mereba named her new album The Breeze Grew A Fire, she had no idea how prophetic those words would turn out to be. The nomadic R&B singer has resided in Los Angeles for the past decade — just long enough to be as shocked as the city’s natives by the devastating, unseasonal wildfires that claimed several neighborhoods, historic recording studios, and the homes of some of her closest friends.
“When I tell you, when that title came to me, I really was like, ‘Okay, I don’t really get it, but I’m going to find the meaning of it,'” she told Uproxx in a chuckle-filled Zoom interview about the new project — her first full-length solo release since 2019’s The Jungle Is The Only Way Out.
In the interim, she appeared on Atlanta-based supergroup Spillage Village’s 2020 pandemic paean, Spilligion, and released Azeb, the 2021 EP that constitutes her last music before having her first child.
Born in Montgomery, Alabama, the singer, whose name comes from her Ethiopian heritage, grew up in North Carolina before moving to Atlanta for college. It was there she befriended Spillage Village members JID, 6lack, and Earthgang. She was folded into the group’s official lineup before too long, leading to her own deal with Interscope. While it’d prove mostly successful, resulting in the aforementioned releases, in 2024, she signed with independent label Secretly Canadian and commenced the rollout for her latest.
Mereba’s propensity for releasing new music during unprecedented, world-shaking events aside, The Breeze Grew A Fire isn’t a completely comprehensive overview of her artistic growth over the past four years (there’s a noticeable reduction in the amount of raps, which she jokingly blames on her newfound mom status). It is, however, an elegant, pretty-sounding recapitulation of the things she’s learned and experienced, the healing she’s done, and her hopes for the future. She also flexes her production skills, something she’s proud to share in our conversation, which you can read below.
I think the last time you released something was 2021. What have you been up to since then? What have you been doing? What’s life like?
Yeah, I’ve been making a lot of music, for sure, but I also became a mom, and I’ve been momming.
So yeah, the first couple years is just really taking that time to adjust and be present in that transition in life, but always still, obviously, making music and focusing more on collaborating and features that have come out in the in-between time and stuff like that. But I just wanted to really, really live for a little bit, because so much of my life has been journeying on this pursuit of music. And so when I had my son, I was like, I think this is actually the first time in life that I’m supposed to live outside of that pursuit and just see who I am outside of that. And I had a lot more to write about when I came back to music.
Does he have a favorite song or favorite songs from the new project?
He likes all of them because he likes Mommy’s music, but he definitely gravitates towards certain ones. Right now, he loves “Phone Me.” And it’s interesting because I’m pretty explicit, so hearing my son sing it, I’m like, “Relax.”
Obviously, there’s a lot of pressure and there’s timing to consider, and so I always love to ask artists: why now? What makes now the time for this project? Because you record so much, you can have three or four projects ready to go at any given moment, and there’s something about the time that demands the project that you’re putting out.
I didn’t want to take this long. There were other reasons why it took long outside of having my child: changes in labels, changes in management… a lot of big things changed. For me, it was just a restlessness: I love giving music to the world and I love connecting with my fans. I never imagined that after so many years of trying to get people to care about my music, once they did, I disappeared. But oops, I did not mean to take that long. So, on my level, it was just like, “I’m ready, I have the music, my mind’s right, I’ve got everything figured out, and I can move back into this.”
But I think on the spirit side of it, I couldn’t necessarily have planned the timing of it. I didn’t know what 2025 would feel like coming into it, but it came in very hot. I live in LA. I’ve lived in LA for 10 years. As soon as the year started, it felt like we were just boxing. I think in general in this country and just the world at large, I know what I’m called to do with music has to do with healing and restoration and comfort and calm. I could have released the album earlier maybe, but on the spirit side, I do think it feels like divine timing. Not to mention the title of the album is very interesting, in retrospect.
Ancestors was like, “Hey, girl. Hey, girl, get ready.” They were trying to warn us.
Exactly. Because when I tell you, when that title came to me, I really was like, “Okay, I don’t really get it, but I’m going to find the meaning of it.” Because God said, “This is the title of this album.” There’s some things I don’t ask too much about. I just feel it. I think that’s why the timing worked out the way that it did.
If you were going to be introducing someone to Mereba, the concept of Mereba, who Mereba is as an artist, one time with one song from this album, which song would that be?
Ooh, that’s such a hard question. That’s a really hard question just because there are elements of my artistry that are not as present on this album, i.e. rapping. I rapped on “Counterfeit.” I rapped on “Hawk.” But yes, that is some feedback that I’m definitely getting. I knew that I would, and I will get back to rapping, but I explained that having a baby and a toddler is just not very rapperly energy that you’re in.
So, I didn’t want to force it, but I sprinkled a little bit. But I will say that that is a big part of my artistry that isn’t as present, but I honestly think sentiment-wise and sonically, I think “Heart Of A Child” is a pretty strong representation of what I care most about with music. It has a message to it. It feels timeless to me, and it feels like a song that kid me would’ve wanted big me to make.
What is your hope for the result of this album release? This time next year, what do you want to be able to say about it?
I definitely want this album to be a grand reintroduction of my artistry to the world. I just anticipate all the places we’ll go with it, all the cities and the countries that we’ll go to with this. Definitely my first full world tour, going to places I’ve never been. The timing of my career with the pandemic was an interesting one, where I feel like a lot of things that it might seem like I would’ve already done, I haven’t. The way that things worked out for me, a lot of those things were happening in 2020, and then things changed. So, I just look forward to really standing consistently in my artistry for the next year and really showing people what it is I have to give without any interruptions.
I do hope that one or more of these songs just connects with people in a large way, just really spreads around the world. I feel very blessed because my fan base is a very passionate one, but I definitely would like to grow my fan base and reach more people that maybe wouldn’t expect to connect. Something surprising happening would be nice because I really feel like the energy of this album and this music is so loving and tender and sweet, and I do think that that’s missing in certain ways in the world, and I just want to be of service.
I always ask artists: What’s one of those questions that you wish somebody would’ve asked you? If you had the mic and you asked you, what’s the question that you would want to be asked that you want to talk about that you never get to talk about?
I feel like one thing that I never get to talk about is the fact that I produce my own music. Getting into music production was the game-changer for me. I do believe that that’s how things came together for me to finally introduce a sound that I felt confident in.
And obviously, we’ve heard it is more rare for women to produce their music. We’ve heard the stories about women trying to and men being like, “Ah, you don’t know what you’re doing. Do you even know what a four-count is?” We know all those stories. “Do you know what a snare is?” I will say, yes, I experienced those things, but I also experienced my community, my friends, my male friends, all of my friends really uplifting me and believing in that part of me, even before I really considered myself a producer.
Other than performing, I think producing is probably just the most fun. I’m running around the room, I’m excited, I’m playful. It feels like being in a sandbox as an artist. I’m just looking forward to producing more for other people, too. I’m coming up on my 10-year anniversary of learning how to produce, and I would love to encourage more women to get involved in that side of the artistry because it’s so gratifying, and it’s so cool to hear your production on record.
The Breeze Grew A Fire is out 2/14 via Secretly Canadian. Find more information here.
