Inayah Shows Us Off Her Range & Ratchetness On 'Side A'


Houston's R&B It-girl Inayah has been teasing and taunting us with loose singles for the past year, showing off her singing, songwriting and growth since her debut album S.O.L.A.R. and her breakthrough track "Suga Daddy." But given the year that was 2020 – and the fact that Inayah was pregnant – well, we can forgive her for not moving faster. But now she’s finally given us a new project to dive into with the EP Side A. The six tracks range from lovey-dovey to ratchet and raunchy. It’s all Inayah, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

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Side A's first track, the single “Fallin,” samples Blackstreet’s “Don’t Leave Me” to create a lush love song where Inayah gushes over the way her lover makes her feel. This is followed up by “Peaches,” where Inayah shows us she can spit a hot 16, too, as she raps over an old school-inspired hip-hop beat. The track takes the memorable line, "My name is Peaches and I'm the best / All the DJs want to feel my breasts," from Coming To America's iconic club scene and flips the funny line into a song where you can’t help but take her seriously as a lyricist.

Possibly giving listener’s a bit of whiplash, Inayah goes back into her R&B bag on the single “What Are We?" where she questions her homie lover friend about where he sees their situationship going. On “Houston TX,” Inayah hooks up with H-Town legend Scarface to s**t talk and big up her hometown, shouting out fellow Houston artists past, present and future.

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And speaking of s**t talk, Inayah really goes there showing off her penmanship and pimpmanship on “Woody.” The track samples Case’s hit single “Touch Me Tease Me,” and finds her using a half-singing, half-rapping flow. She talks about her sexual proclivities with unabashed and unashamed lyrics like, “Suck his d**k and then roll on him like some dice,” that would make head Houstonian hottie Megan The Stallion proud.

The project ends on the short but sweet “Missing It.” Released as a teaser single and video ahead of the project, it’s a great way to close out the EP. The track perfectly showcases all the facets of Inayah’s talent, with clever yet down to Earth lyrics, strong pipes and some hip-hop soul swag.

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With Side A, Inayah shows up and shows out. Part original project, part mixtape, she doesn’t settle for being pigeonholed but shows the breadth and depth of her talent and influences. Of the tracks, “Fallin” is the leading R&B track, while “Peaches” is the best showcase of her rap flow. But, with so much diversity, Inayah has a slight problem with the arrangement of songs, going from smooth R&B to hard hip-hop tracks, which can disturb the flow of the project. But with only six tracks and around 16 minutes in length total, we’re not mad and Inayah has us hooked and ready to hear more of her sides.

Inayah Side A [Amazon][Apple Music]

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