Yung baby tate 1 by munachi osegbu
Photo Credit: Munachi-Osegbu
'After The Rain,' a new EP from Yung Baby Tate, sums up what follows when two people go separate ways. We spoke with Tate about every song on the EP.
So, what hasYung Baby Tate been doing amid the COVID-19 pandemic? The short answer — putting together her new EP, After The Rain (which is out today, December 4th).
The longer answer: healing and reflecting after a breakup. Tate’s seven-track release sums up what follows when two people go their separate ways. For her, that looks like moving on and prioritizing herself. “I've been spoiling myself, whether that's going to get my nails done, or just going to get a pedicure," Yung Baby Tate said over a Zoom call, just days before her new EP was set to be released. "I do a lot of things alone.” She admits here that even with the sadness she’s felt this year after her breakup, her cat Toffee has been making her happy.
Each song on After The Rain is special to the singer-songwriter as she was experiencing different emotions when she penned them. The project which she recorded completely in Atlanta features emotionally-charged songs that ether into the R&B space. But it also is equipped with enjoyable bops packed with sharp bars. Features from Alabama rapper Flo Milli and LVRN’s 6LACK sprinkle each of these artists’ flavors alongside Tate’s established sound.
After The Rain serves as a follow-up to her acclaimed release GIRLS, and it’s a delicately constructed, new peek into what she’s capable of crafting. So we decided to hit up the singer-songwriter and get her to break down each track on the EP.
Check it out below.
“Lesson Learned”
This whole project was created in real-time as I was going through a breakup. I would go to the studio, and it [would] be some new bullshit and we would end up writing a dope song about it. We had broken up before, then got back together, and then broken up again, and got back together. And then, this was the last time. And I was just like, You know what? I just need to take this lesson that God is obviously trying to teach me and apply it.
It was just that last straw. "You know what? I'm fucking done, bitch." That’s where “give me back my sweatshirt” [came from]. Everybody in the studio, they were like, "Would that make sense?" Because, normally, guys [who] get their sweatshirts stolen. I want to let it be known that I have my eye on you. I know that you have at least two of my sweatshirts. I love the fact that that's the opening track because it's just setting the tone for what this whole project is.
“I Am (Featuring Flo Milli)”
“I Am” is a song that I started writing outside of the studio. Outside of this whole relationship thing. I just started to write these things down. And as I was writing them down, I was like, "This would actually be really cool in a song." I want people to say this. Kind of in a chant. So they can say it to themselves enough times, that it just starts to make sense and manifest into their lives.
So when I came into the studio, I told everybody, "I got this chorus I really want to do." We ended up finding the right beat for it. After the song was done, I was like, "You know, who'd sound crazy on this shit? Flo Milli."
“Bounce”
“Bounce” was also one of those songs where it's like, everybody’s been going through it this whole year. Some of us have been down bad, but it's like, you’ve got to remember, you got to bounce back. No matter what you've gone through, no matter how hard it has been, it's always going to be a moment where you got to pick yourself back up and remind yourself who the hell you are and bounce back.
[Since] this whole project is really like a story it starts with “Lesson Learned,” where I’m telling myself: "Oh my gosh, I just learned this fucking lesson." And then I have to remind myself of who I am, and then bounce back, so that I can get to “Rainbow Cadillac,” and skirt the fuck off.
“Rainbow Cadillac”
I came in the studio with the first verse — and I think a bit of the second verse — already written. We were working with these producers, MikeWavvs, Jack Lamastro, and Wallis Lane. They were in the studio and I came in and I was like, "I got this rap that I want to do. And this is the cadence I want to do." And I just rapped it out loud, and they created the beat around that.
It didn't start off as a Danity Kane ["Show Stopper"] sample. It started off with just the first two verses. Then once I got to that pre-hook, I was writing and it was like, "Blah, blah, blah. Just where we at?" And then, "Well, bitch, where are we at?" Then I jokingly started singing, "We in the car, we doing things that the girls don’t do." And Crystal, who helped write a lot of this project, she was like, ‘No, that's actually fire. You should really do that.’ And that's how that came about.
“Rainbow Cadillac” is a braggadocious ego song. I’m reaffirming myself, re-introducing myself, and reclaiming my rainbow. My name is Yung Baby Tate AKA the rainbow queen. "I’m back bitch. Nobody could put me down. Y’all can’t box me in. Y’all can’t take me from me. Nobody can do what I do. You can’t outdo the doer, baby."
“Baecation”
Basically, I just came into the studio and said I want to do a song with an Island-type vibe. And I was randomly thinking about this tweet that I had seen from a journalist, named Wanna [Thompson] and she had gone on a first date in Europe, or some shit. It was like a super-flex on the timeline.
I pretty much wrote that entire song alone. I was just vibing out to the music, and just writing in my Notes app. I wrote about how I would love to go on a little vacation with a nice lady and get to know her. I really think that would be so cute. I want to do that. I don't know if it'll happen in 2020, but sometime soon.
“Cold”
I actually wrote “Cold” early on. It was a song where I was like "I'm sad. I miss my ex." Because at the time, he lived with me. So I had gotten used to having someone there with me all the time in the bed. I got this big ass California King bed. And then we broke up. That first moment when y'all break up, it's like, "Oh, I kind of miss you." So that's where that came from. It was literally cold in this bed. That's why I wrote that [line]: "I been way too cold in this bed without you laying next to me." But child, that is not how I feel now. I was going for a grown and sexy vibe.
Photo Credit: Munachi-Osegbu
“Let It Rain (Featuring 6LACK)”
At the time when I was working on “Let It Rain,” I was thinking, "Oh, we've broken up now, but maybe one day we can come back together, and you can go get yourself together, and eventually one day it will work out." That’s where that song came from. I actually couldn't write a second verse to it, because I was low-key crying in the booth.
The whole project is that emotion and the motions of going through a rollercoaster. So it starts off like, "Nigga, fuck you. I'm about to remind myself who I am. I'm about to bounce the fuck back. Skirt off of you, and go on a vacation with another bitch." And then I realized, "Damn, I'm a little cold." Maybe we can get back together, but then we repeat it. We just played the project on repeat. And it's like, "Nevermind. I forgot I learned this lesson."
