''Fountain Baby'' is the second studio album by the Ghanaian-American singer

Amaarae Ama Serwah Genfi (born July 4, 1994), formerly known as Petrah and currently known professionally as Amaarae, is an Ghanaian-American singer and songwriter. She is known for her fusion of pop, R&B, afrobeats, and alté, as well as her fluid rep ...

. It was released on June 9, 2023, via Golden Child Entertainment and

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

. The album, released to widespread critical acclaim, was supported by four singles, "Reckless & Sweet", "Co-Star", "Wasted Eyes", and "Angels in Tibet". The album went on to earn spots on multiple year-end best-of lists. In 2024, Amaarae expanded the project with ''Roses Are Red, Tears Are Blue – A Fountain Baby'' extended play, which was released on June 28, 2024 and introduced seven new tracks. Around the same time, she also featured alongside

Jorja Smith Jorja Alice Smith (born 11 June 1997) is an English singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Walsall, West Midlands, she has been writing songs since the age of 11. In 2012, Smith's friend uploaded her cover of Labrinth's "Earthquake" to YouT ...

Childish Gambino Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his musical stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American actor, comedian, musician, and filmmaker. While he studied at New York University and after working in Derrick ...

's single "In the Night".

Background

On her 2020 debut album ''The Angel You Don't Know'', Amaarae embraced themes of desire and self-assuredness, presenting her "zaddy" persona with a genre-blurring mix of R&B,

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

, and

alté Alté (locally pronounced as "ahl-teh") is a fusion genre of music that combines elements of afrobeats, dancehall, reggae, hip hop, and alternative R&B. The term was coined in the 2010s by Nigerian music group DRB LasGidi, meaning alternative ...

that highlighted her creative fearlessness. Following her global breakthrough with "Sad Girlz Luv Money" featuring Moliy—and its remix with

Kali Uchis Karly Marina Loaiza (born July 17, 1994), known professionally as Kali Uchis ( ), is an American singer and songwriter. Her accolades include a Grammy Awards, Grammy Award, an American Music Awards, American Music Award, two Billboard Music Awar ...

—Amaarae continued to develop her sound by blending diverse global influences into her signature

Afrobeats Afrobeats, not to be confused with Afrobeat or Afroswing, is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Ghana, Nigeria, and the UK in the 2000s and 2010s. Afrobeats is less of a st ...

-inspired style.

Composition

Pitchfork described the lead single "Reckless & Sweet" as a subtler, more introspective take on Amaarae's signature style, blending soft drums and guitar with lyrics that explore emotional vulnerability and material tension. The review highlighted the track's biblical imagery and understated production as a contrast to her usual confidence.

Singles

Following the lead single "Reckless & Sweet", Amaarae released the second single "Co-Star", accompanied by a star sign–themed music video directed by Lauren Dunn. Amaarae released a music video for the third single, "Wasted Eyes". Directed by Lauren Dunn, the video is set in a nightclub featuring a wall-to-wall fish tank. She later followed it with a vibrant visual for the fourth single "Angels in Tibet", directed by Yavez Anthonio, which features performances on stage and in ornate settings alongside dancers Hamly and Beaulexx.

Critical reception

''Fountain Baby'' was released to overwhelmingly positive reception. ''

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

'', a review aggregator, awarded a score of 95/100 based on eight critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' named the record "Best New Music" with Julianne Escobedo Shepherd writing, "The Ghanaian American singer's dazzling second album is a confident and unconventional record that flows, saunters, and boasts its way to one of the best pop albums of the year." Tarisai Ngangura for

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

enjoyed the variety between songs and was impressed by the cohesive fusion of various genres.

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

, reviewing in his "Consumer Guide" column, appreciated Amaarae's grounded gratitude for the same-sex obsession "she can afford" to have as a successful artist: In September, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' listed the album as one of the best albums of 2023 so far.

Year-end lists

Track listing

Notes * signifies an additional producer * signifies a co-producer * "Counterfeit" contains samples of "

Wamp Wamp (What It Do) "Wamp Wamp (What It Do)" is the second single from the 2006 Clipse album ''Hell Hath No Fury (Clipse album), Hell Hath No Fury''. The song features Slim Thug and was produced by The Neptunes. It was the Unleashed video on MTV2 on October 30, 200 ...

", written by

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

Pusha T Terrence LeVarr Thornton (born May 13, 1977), better known by his stage name Pusha T, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as one half of the Virginia-based hip hop duo Clipse, which he formed with his older brother No Malice, Malice. M ...

No Malice Gene Elliott Thornton Jr. (born August 18, 1972), better known by his stage name Malice (formerly Malicious and later No Malice), is an American rapper from Virginia Beach, Virginia. He is best known for being one half of hip hop duo Clipse, a ...

and

Slim Thug Stayve Jerome Thomas (born September 8, 1979), better known by his stage name Slim Thug, is an American rapper. He gained mainstream attention for his guest performance alongside Paul Wall on Mike Jones' 2004 single "Still Tippin'". The followi ...

, recorded by

Clipse Clipse, also known as the Clipse, is an American hip-hop, hip hop duo from Virginia Beach, Virginia. Formed in 1994, it consists of brothers No Malice, Gene "Malice" and Pusha T, Terrence "Pusha T" Thornton. Pusha T was known as Terrar during t ...

featuring Slim Thug.

References

{{reflist 2023 albums Amaarae albums Interscope Records albums