Following the release of her sophomore EP And It Was Good last summer, which was met with rave reviews from fans and critics alike including Vogue Italia, Noctis Magazine, R&B Radar, iMullar, Spotify’s ‘Fresh Finds’ and Apple Music’s ‘Future Hits’, among others, Toronto-based singer, songwriter and musician Kibra is gearing up to unveil her debut full-length album in 2022. The Eritrean Canadian native began teasing the project in August with the glorious ‘All That’ and she is excited to unveil her brand new single titled ‘Live Your Life‘ and its accompanying music video.
Written and composed by Kibra, and produced by Ghanaian musician NiiQuaye (Wanlov, Sarkodie, DarkoVibes), ‘Live Your Life’ is an exquisite R&B-pop offering fused in with captivating afrofusion sensibilities and Kibra’s East African heritage sounds. Driven by her soulful jazz-esque vocals, lush harmonies and resounding strings and drums-led soundscapes, the track sees Kibra paying homage to our ancestors that have paved the way for us to be where we are today, and calling on us all to live our lives to the fullest in response to all the work and prayers that have been put in for us.
For the accompanying ‘Live Your Life’ music video, Kibra has collaborated with film directors Mez Mariye and DirektorLee to create a divine, regal and joyful visual offering that brings the song further to life. Championing themes of community, black girl joy and black beauty, the video not only captures Kibra and her friends taking a break from their busy and stressful day-to-day existence to simply live their lives, smell the roses, appreciate their freedoms, and enjoy each other, with their ancestors watching on joyfully. It also showcases Kibra in all her divine femininity, performance prowess, artistic and stylistic glory.
Speaking about the inspiration behind ‘Live Your Life’, Kibra says, “Being so proud of my Eritrean and Ethiopian culture, I’ve been wanting to make a song that incorporates that sound for quite some time. I’ve also spent a few months in Ghana, and have an undying passion for Pan Africanism, so I’m always thinking of ways to use my music and platform to promote it. In terms of the lyrics, many of us have been having a tough time throughout this pandemic, with several communities facing hardships every day – many of them go unnoticed or fall off the radar. People deal with issues that are ingrained in our systems and social structures, and it can get very difficult to push through, so this song is just encouraging people to live their life, live it in your own unapologetic way; that in itself is a form of resistance”.
Watch the video for ‘Live Your Life’ below:
