Inayah has always been about empowering women, and she’s taking it to the next level with her upcoming album, Wait, There’s More. The Houston artist is back in her element after taking a short break, but through that, she’s grown into herself and is ready to release what she calls her best work yet.
Inayah spoke with rolling out about her upcoming project, heartbreak, finding her voice and advice for mothers going through postpartum.
What was the process and inspiration for you making this project?
In the last project that I did, I was in a space after giving birth, having my baby, going through postpartum and just getting back to myself as an artist. With this particular project, Wait, There’s More, I’m back. I’ve gotten back to all of the things that my fans originally fell in love with me for, just the wittiness, all of my s— talking, the rap-singing style and getting back to storytelling and making music that people can directly relate to — although I’ve never strayed away from that, no matter what type of project I was working on. This one, we definitely have more radio hits. We got a lot of bops this time around; we got some feel-good songs; we got some dance music. It’s literally wait, there’s more. There’s more to what you’ve already heard, so I’m super excited about this project.
Tell us about your song, “For the Streets.”
My fans know that I’m going to give them nothing less than what’s raw and what’s real, so they know that I always make music directly from an experience that I went through myself or somebody very, very close to me to where I was able to have front row seats in how they were dealing with that. “For the Streets” is one of those proclamations where the homegirl realizes that she ain’t really losing anything if homie chooses to go out there, play around in the streets and play with the chickenheads. Let them go be there. You bask in your glory, girl. You know who you are. You’re confident in yourself. We’re not tripping if he chooses to exit — that’s his loss for real.
What have you learned about heartbreak?
Even though it’s unfortunate, there’s so much of a lesson in it. One of my favorite lines that I’ve written was [in] my song “Best Thing,” where I said, “But it’ll teach me not to go back then again.” Sometimes heartbreak is necessary for you to grow. So, although it’s unfortunate, and it sucks — and no one likes to go through that and feel that — sometimes it’s fuel for you to get to the next level of your life and of your best self.
What is the message you want to give to mothers going through postpartum?
Postpartum is hard. It is a very real form of depression, and mommies and women need all the support they can get during that time. I really appreciate my fans for rocking with me during that time and to my man. He was so supportive, and he was my rock. My sisters and my mom. I’m a confident girl, so for me to be in that space was very different and very new — and I’m glad to be revived and renewed after that time of my life.
