Introducing Talibah Safiya: The Soulful Songstress from Memphis, Tennessee
By Maryam Muhammad
Rising artist and Memphis local, Talibah Safiya, offers a unique perspective to the R&B world by painting topics like love and attachment far deeper and more colorful than in simply black and white. Through each and every shade of gray, Talibah finds color in each topic and uses them as inspiration for her art.
As a woman of many mantras and melodies, Talibah incorporates various aspects for her world into her songs, pulling on anything from her spirituality and her views on stress, to the emotions and the lived experiences she’s had.
In her track, “The Great Disguise,” Talibah finds herself at odds with faith, as many of the Abrahamic religions do not recognize women as prophets or divine leaders. As someone who grew up with no official religion, she had always wondered why the idea of God always revolved around masculine energy, as God is almost exclusively referred to as “Father” and rarely ever “Mother.” She calls for the presence of divine femininity through a performance of sultry, rhythmic refrains, asking the important question, “Who left out your mother’s name?”
Her blog, “Talibah thinks,” offers her thoughts on the matter and what she thinks could be done about it. She writes, “It felt like a personal attack and a reason more women should ask more questions and seek more positions of leadership in organized spiritual spaces. It still does. I believe we’ve grown a lot since 2016 but we have so much more to learn as a society.”
Other songs like, “Up and Down” and “Middle of the Night” allow listeners to walk through Talibah’s shoes and see how she was able to navigate things relating to mental health, relationships, and problems that she was facing at the time said songs were written.
Similarly to many other artists, Talibah uses the art of songwriting to give listeners a glimpse into her mindset, as well as to reflect on the background that she was brought up under. Her music, much like her journey through life, is that of a soul-searching young woman trying to spread her truth in the world and give audiences something to hold on to.
With vocals reminiscent of pure honey and molasses, she creates tracks that stay true to her soulful, southern heritage via Memphis, Tennessee, a city known for notable acts such as Isaac Hayes, Aretha Franklin, and Al Green. Growing up, she had a special relationship with soul music; her father worked for 103.5, a local station known for playing R&B hits and classics. She always listened to her father’s show in the morning.
Though the music industry is historically known for putting women, especially those of color, in a box, Talibah describes herself as a genre-hopping musician. She pulls from multiple genres, including those of blues, pop, trap, folk, hip-hop, and of course, R&B.
In the Summer of 2019, Talibah Safiya went on the “A Deep Water Sound” tour, which visited ten cities around the United States. Being someone who always wants to represent where she comes from, she was accompanied by various Memphis-based artists at each show, which allowed her to bring home with her while she traveled. Some of the places she toured included Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia.
Her debut album is set to be released in early 2021. Until then, her music can be found on several streaming platforms, including Apple Music, Spotify, SoundCloud, and YouTube. Hopefully, we’ll get to see and experience the manifestation of Talibah Safiya’s full vision very soon.
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