Kamaiyah goes for broke on A Good Night in the Ghetto

Granted, a lot of people dream about one day having ample cash at their disposable, but Kamaiyah is refreshing by taking this familiar feeling and using it to enhance her insanely addictive ‘90s-inspired hip-hop. This is what makes her breakthrough single “How Does It Feel” still amongst her strongest – its chorus of: “I’ve been broke all my life, now I wonder / How does it feel to be rich?” turns a secret curiosity from something seen as shameful into an arms-in-the-air singalong to be proud of.

A Good Night in the Ghetto is an outstanding listen for so many reasons. It’s smart, it’s catchy and it even manages to successfully reclaim the word ‘hoochie’. But, most importantly, it’s honest and emotional - it’s a mixtape that uses positive energy in order to bring attention to difficult subjects, like a parent giving their child a chocolate bar before taking them to get a flu jab.

“No I ain't got the answers to this / I'm wondering if this is as bad as it gets,” Kamaiyah admits on “For My Dawg”, the mixtape’s concluding and most sensitive track. It’s dedicated to two of her closest friends who she’s lost recently – one who died after a fight with cancer and another who was murdered. “And everything around me doesn’t matter,” acknowledges Kamaiyah, referencing her career’s recent rise. Above all the mixtape’s desire to get a decent paypacket, she knows that friends and family are what matter most, and that’s something money can’t buy.