We Did The Damn Thing (Clear Vinyl) [VINYL]

Naya Ali goes deep on “We Did The Damn Thing”. The Montreal artistʼs new album is at once deeply introspective and a wide-eyed embrace of the world. The sonically adventurous follow-up to her two-part debut “Godspeed: Baptism (Prelude)”, released in 2020, and “Godspeed: Elevated” (2021), finds her stretching her wings lyrically, vocally and musically. Ali remains one of the toughest, most talented rappers in the game – “Iʼm still too high-a, Iʼm way too gangsta-huh, I'm still so fire,” she boasts over an ominous beat on “The Heist”. Early singles “More Life, Less Names”, “Open Fire” and “Whatʼs the Move” further showcase her wide range of flows. Elsewhere, she pushes the envelope in other ways. On the Afrobeats-infused single “Life”, Ali doesnʼt rap but sings to a loved one about the meaning of existence. It may be the most warm-hearted, upbeat track she has ever released. Her exploration of melody continues on “Itʼs Us (Flowers to the Rain)”, a tender rumination on perseverance set to a twinkling soundtrack of plucked guitar. Punk and trap influences collide on the infectious “Catch a Vibe” as Ali considers everything she has sacrificed in pursuit of her dreams. It all comes together on “Stunt Like an Immigrant”, an emancipatory anthem about working hard and keeping your eyes on the prize, from an Ethiopian-born artist who knows of what she speaks. “Came from the bottom all the way to the top, never gave up when they said that I flopped,” she raps in a fluttering voice that refuses to be confined by expectations. As her illustrious collaborator Dominique Fils-Aimé sings over a thumping beat and swelling synths on dramatic closing track “Freedom Creepinʼ”: “Itʼs that freedom, itʼs that freedom creepinʼ on me.”