Photo via Bloody Samaritan Remix Official Music Video
As a Yorùbá and Delta Igbo girl, I have been listening to Afro-Beats since day one. And it is interesting to see this genre go from being niche (especially in the West) to steadily becoming mainstream in the present day. Nevertheless, it is not surprising that we are seeing more collaborations between mainstream Western artists and Afro-Beats artists (e.g via remixes).
One particular remix I recently stumbled on was Bloody Samaritan by Ayra Starr ft Kelly Rowland. This remix DEFINITELY intrigued me for two reasons:
- I absolutely adore the original song! In fact, it was featured on my Top Songs 2021 Spotify Playlist.
- And mind you, I didn’t create the playlist, Spotify did this based on my listening activity.
- I wanted to see if this would be a bop or a flop. Because even though Kelly Rowland and Ayra Starr are VERY talented singers individually. Plus, both have given us some great songs. That does not mean that together they can produce the same results.
We have gotten some excellent songs from collaborations between Western and African artists, such as Somebody’s Son by Tiwa Savage and Brandy. Howeverrrrrr, there are certain collaborations that should not have taken place because they were that bad.
So, after initially listening to this song, to my surprise, I immediately added it to my Spotify library because it was that GOOD! This remix was a GREAT IDEA and a perfect example of what collaborations between Afro-beats and Western artists should look like. Kelly’s verse was FIRE! It fitted perfectly within this remix. And I loved that Kelly did not need to change her sound for this collaboration to work.
Moreover, I adored that a choir’s vocals were used at the beginning and the end of this song. The addition of their vocals in this remix resulted in an iconic and beautiful intro. Furthermore, the fact that the choir and Ayra harmonised together in the outro was not only a pleasure to my ears but a brilliant idea. As we get a powerful and satisfying ending to this song.
Lastly, as there was not much of a difference between this remix and the original song, I like that Ayra Starr kept it consistent with her beautiful vocals. That plus the addictive beat, produced by the talented Producer London, was the ultimate reason why I fell in love with the original song.
Overall, if you have hadn’t the chance to listen to this song, run to YouTube, Apple Music, Spotify etc NOWWWWWW! Because Ayra Starr, Kelly Rowland, London and many more people came together to make a masterpiece that deserves all the streams and recognition.
Dark Hues 