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Songs We Love: Kamaiyah, 'Playa In Me'

While some of us are bracing for impending winter, Bay Area rapper Kamaiyah is happy to report that dropping temperatures are no match for the "coldest bitch alive." The West Coast MC surprised fans with her latest mixtape Before I Wake earlier this month and has been following up with some icy visuals to accompany the music ever since. Her latest video for "Playa In Me" embodies the rapper's effortless ethos down to a T.

While hip-hop heads are more than used to seeing male rappers flaunt their riches, Kamaiyah switches up the script on the Evan Croker-directed clip. She lounges on an old-school Mercedes-Benz and takes quick trips in a helicopter with her friends, all while draped in diamonds and bubblegum fur.

"Can't name one fear cause I ain't took one yet / Fly as f****** hell and only took one jet," raps Ill Ya Ya in the second verse, through glittery grills. "With Keyshia Cole to see the fight have Floyd bets / We just make money no we don't void checks."

The Oakland native first gained national recognition last year thanks to her stellar debut project, A Good Night In The Ghetto, where the newcomer harnessed the G-funk and boogie sound her region pioneered with the help of producers like 1-O.A.K., CT Beats and P-Lo. On Before I Wake, fans can expect even more slaps.

Before I Wake is available now.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Sidney Madden is a reporter and editor for NPR Music. As someone who always gravitated towards the artforms of music, prose and dance to communicate, Madden entered the world of music journalism as a means to authentically marry her passions and platform marginalized voices who do the same.