When Iraqi-born Sweden-based rapper Nayomi appeared in the regional rap scene, her raps and freestyles had already been turning heads in Europe as part of Swedish rap group, LVT, before she went solo for nearly 10 years with Swedish record label, State Crown. Nayomi then decided to go independent, seeking to break lingual barriers by rapping in three languages: Arabic, English, and Swedish. “That's what the future sounds like," the artist told SceneNoise in a 2020 interview.
In her latest single ‘AMAN’, Nayomi shifts away from her usual hard-hitting bars with an afro-inspired summer tune, which was produced by Grammy-nominated Roc Nation producer, Stress. The duo have been cooking bangers in the studio for the past year, opting to have ‘AMAN’ as their first release together.
Throughout the track, Nayomi raps about how she finds solace and security in a newly-formed connection with someone (hence the name ‘AMAN’ which translates to ‘safe’ in Arabic). In spite of her own feelings, Nayomi keeps her guard up, saying, “Tell me everything about the one that left you, until you forget them, don't take too long before you reply to the texts, but it doesn't matter.” Stress gets playful with the instrumentals, pairing Nayomi’s rhymes with a simple afro-fusion with a kalimba and FX sewn around the percussion, resulting in an instant hip-shaker.
Nayomi and Stress are just warming up with a series of collaborations seeing the light of day in due time. You can enjoy Nayomi’s ‘AMAN’ below.
