Introducing: AMA

At the tender age of 19, West London singer AMA has charmed her audience following the release of her debut single ‘Monochrome’ in 2018 on Dirty Hit Records, an independent label that is also shared by The 1975 and Pale Waves.

The dreamy and bass-filled track was instantly infatuating as it was described as being “an ode to the grey area of young love.” It also has over 600,000 streams on Spotify. The expressive track had an equally spectacular visual directed by Arnaud Bresson of Division Paris who had worked with big names in the music industry such as A$AP Rocky, Kali Uchis, Kanye West and M.I.A.

Creating her own unique sound, AMA wrote her first song aged nine to the instrumental of Lauryn Hill’s ’Doo Wop´ and has taken inspiration from R&B, Pop and artists such as Corinne Bailey Rae. By channelling her inner 90s muses and fortifying them with 21st century beats, AMA has conjured a distinct plan of where she wants her music to go and how she wants to make people feel. She writes love songs from a millennial point of view, indirectly and directly relating to communicating with the person you love through your phone.

After the recognised success from Monochrome, AMA continued to deliver and gave us the throwback track ‘Slip’. It was about taking control of your own happiness and not allowing anyone or anything getting in the way of trying to be the best version of you. The stunning and retro looking video was set in a gym class, showing all the different versions of her being challenged and pushed. Having released a handful of music videos to accompany her soulful ballads, ‘Crystal’, which was premiered on Complex, was described as “That moment when you’re certain you’ve found what you're looking for or what seems like you’ve been missing and nobody else can take your focus.” from the songstress herself. She carries the aesthetic of energetic R&B well with club playlist potential and bears that authentic trap beat, thanks to the producing flare from Karma Kid.

With these singles as examples, it’s clear that AMA is constantly evolving her sound and exploring new heights within her talents. Much like any artist in the game, she just wants to be able to create and positively impact them. She’s stated once that she has no backup plan. With the support she has currently been receiving from family, friends, her label and magazines from the UK and the states there’s no point for making a backup plan if it all falls through. Instead she has decided to try and do everything in her power to enable her to succeed. She wants to be able to make all her dreams a reality because it’s the one thing she is sure that she wants to do. She wants to be able to challenge herself in the future and think about how it can all grow, evolve and develop.

In this day and age, it can sometimes be beneficial to have a role model, and feminine empowerment is something that means a lot to AMA. Having once stated that she loves seeing females that kill the game, her biggest inspirations are Beyoncé , Rosalia and even her big sister who is an aircraft engineer. This idea matches her themes of elegance, delicate vocals and aesthetics but it is apparent that she loves to contrast the two in visuals such as the moody-sounding track ‘Real’, a separate vibe from her other tracks but it still continues to explore deep emotions that match her rich vocals. Having written ‘Real’ after a few months into a new relationship, she sings over a glum bass and offers her all saying, “Give me a minute, yeah I’m on my way to you/ Tell me where and I’ll be there in two.” And then begging her lover to loosen up a little: “Oh would you let me, let me inside of your head”.

In September 2019, AMA then released a six track EP entitled ‘SCREENLUV’. It’s packed full of

production from some of the hottest producers such as Pasque (Aminé), Jarreau Vandal (Soulection), Karma Kid (Octavian) and more. It’s a love letter to a relationship in the digital age and enforcing all the themes of how it all works from start to finish. The track order appears to look like a story with the first track titled ‘Destination’, a Pop-style ditty, all the way to final track ‘Distance’ a sombre track that pretty much is described like its title. By being short and sweet by totalling up to just under 20 minutes, the songstress has been able to make her mark in the London music scene with this structured EP. Although it’s early days in this young woman’s career, AMA has successfully been able to exhibit her abilities in what it takes to create a controlled and enthralling set of music. We are able to get up close and personal with her thoughts, relate to them and feel nostalgic in its rawest form.

AMA is definitely one to watch and we can’t wait to see what else she can produce for our eager ears in the new decade.