''Dawn'' is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter

Yebba Abigail Elizabeth Smith, (born January 16, 1995) known professionally as Yebba, is an American singer and songwriter from West Memphis, Arkansas. She first became known for her YouTube channel and then for her backing vocal performance on Chanc ...

. It was released on September 10, 2021, through

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

Background and composition

In 2017, Yebba independently released her debut single "Evergreen", co-written with British musician-songwriter Jin Jin, which earned her a record deal with Pulse Records. In the process, she met

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album '' Back to Black'' (2006), as well as two for Record ...

, who helped produce ''Dawn'', and worked with him on his 2019 album '' Late Night Feelings''. Ronson revealed that, whilst working with him, Yebba was steadfast in her taste. "You’re never going to get a sound or a colour or a tone past Yebba that she doesn't like," he said. When touching on the creative process of ''Dawn'', he elaborated, "She put her trust in me, but only in the name of realizing her vision" and said she was definitely "one of the greatest vocalists I've ever recorded; certainly one of the greatest vocalists, songwriters and musicians of her generation." By the end of 2018, after mourning the death of her mother the previous year and a lot of time considering to release music as an artist herself, she signed a record deal with

. She said, "I made sure I did two-and-a-half years of self-homework, of digesting a trauma before I could make a commitment to an entire company." As for Ronson, he admits "There was a time where of course we would have loved to sign her to our label Zelig Records (a sub-label to Columbia), but she had different ideas." With the deal in hand, she began writing material for the album, which was later revealed to be named after her mother.

Critical reception

Reviewing the album for ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', Jem Aswad wrote that on the album, Yebba "occupies a musical terrain somewhere between pop, R&B and, at times, 1970s

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

, with tinkling

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument that has a piano-style musical keyboard, where sound is produced by means of mechanical hammers striking metal strings or reeds or wire tines, which leads to vibrations which are then converted into ele ...

and synthesizers that conjure flashes of

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

's ''

Fulfillingness' First Finale ''Fulfillingness' First Finale'' is the seventeenth studio album by American singer, songwriter, musician, and producer Stevie Wonder, released on July 22, 1974, by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. It is the fourth of five albums from wha ...

''." Aswad went on to say that an "obsession with

D'Angelo Michael Eugene Archer (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo (), is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He first garnered attention after co-producing the single "U Will Know" ...

's 2000 classic ''

Voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * West African Vodún, a religion practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...

'' led Yebba and Ronson to enlist several of that album's musicians" for ''Dawn'', including

the Roots The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...

drummer

Questlove Ahmir K. Thompson (born January 20, 1971), known professionally as Questlove (stylized as ), is an American drummer, record producer, disc jockey, filmmaker, music journalist, and actor. He is the drummer and joint frontman (with Black Thought ...

, bassist

Pino Palladino Giuseppe Henry "Pino" Palladino (born 17 October 1957) is a Welsh musician, songwriter, and record producer. A session bassist, he has played bass for a number of acts such as the Who, the John Mayer Trio, Gary Numan, Paul Young, Don Henle ...

and keyboardist

James Poyser James Jason Poyser (b. January 30, 1967) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has been a member of the hip hop band The Roots since 2009, and plays with The Roots in the hous ...

. Aswad also felt that the "album's diversity is reflected in its collaborators", naming the rappers

A$AP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a member of the hip hop collective ASAP Mo ...

and

Smino Christopher Smith Jr. (born October 2, 1991), better known by his stage name Smino, is an American rapper and singer. He is the founder of the musical collective Zero Fatigue with Bari, Monte Booker, Jay2, and Ravyn Lenae. He is one third of ...

, electronic musician

Kaytranada Louis Kevin Celestin (born August 25, 1992), known professionally as Kaytranada (stylized as KAYTRANADA, shortened as KAYTRA), is a Haitian-Canadian music producer, rapper, singer and DJ. Celestin rose to prominence after releasing a series of m ...

, and

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...

's guitarist

Smokey Hormel Smokey Hormel (born circa 1959)Cohen (2017) quotes Hormel as saying he was "4 or 5 ears old when "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles was "a big hit on the radio"; the song was released in America in December 1963. is an American guitarist ...

as examples.

Track listing

Notes * signifies a co-producer * signifies a miscellaneous producer * signifies a vocal producer * "Stand" interpolates the song "When U Went Away", as performed by

and featuring vocals from Yebba.

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2021 debut albums Yebba albums Albums produced by Kaytranada Albums produced by Thomas Brenneck Albums produced by Mark Ronson Albums produced by Yebba Albums recorded at Electric Lady Studios RCA Records albums