美国国家公共电台 NPR--A review of Amaarae's second album: 'Fountain Baby'

A review of Amaarae's second album: 'Fountain Baby'

Transcript¹

American-Ghanian singer Amaarae just released a new album called Fountain Baby. The album sound is influenced by multiple genres².

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The singer Amaarae has a goal. She's Ghanian American and says her goal is to be the quintessential African princess of pop. She has a new album out, and our reviewer thinks she's on her way to that goal.

(SOUNDBITE OF AMAARAE SONG, "WATER FROM WINE")

TARISAI NGANGURA, BYLINE³: Hi, my name is Tarisai Ngangura, and I'm here to talk to you today about Amaarae's new album, "Fountain Baby."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WATER FROM WINE")

AMAARAE: (Singing) When you hold me too close, I feel more than I want. So don't go too fast.

NGANGURA: I think what I like most is how experimental it is. She does a lot of cool things with her voice, with music choices, what genres she chooses to include. And I find that really interesting.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WATER FROM WINE")

AMAARAE: (Singing) Shake it, don't break it. Shake it, don't break it. Fake it till you make it. Shake it.

NGANGURA: I like the variety. I like the different kind of touch points that she brings to it, whether she's doing Southern rap on one song or whether she's doing R&B or pop in one song. It's all a fusion⁴, and it all works really well. I think on this album she's really trying to show that variety because she wants people to really accept her as an artist with multiple interests and with multiple points of reference.

So Amaarae - she's lived between the Bronx, Atlanta and then also Accra. And so she's had this very sort of diverse upbringing that likely introduced her to a lot of various sounds. And all of these kind of coalesce⁵ to create this artist who is just inspired by so many different things.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RECKLESS AND SWEET")

AMAARAE: (Singing) See my blessings⁶, feel my essence. Look how I just stepped in. Please don't try my patience.

NGANGURA: "Reckless & Sweet" - that's a really good one. She really melds pop, and there's just this very groovy Caribbean vibe to it. And it works on the song.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "RECKLESS AND SWEET")

AMAARAE: (Singing) 'Cause I got too much, 'cause my money gets too long. Looking at me, you get goosebumps. Baby, want to roll with a...

NGANGURA: I think since Amaarae's debut⁷, her music has become more confident. There's just this groundedness (ph). She feels like someone who has stepped into her own, and I think it takes quite a great deal of confidence to be able to try something new on each song as a young artist.

Amaarae doesn't want to be put in a box. She doesn't want labels imposed on her. She wants to create these avenues that express who she really is as an artist. And if they don't exist in the world, she's going to make them for herself.

(SOUNDBITE OF AMAARAE SONG, "BIG STEPPA")

NGANGURA: I found similarities between her and Janet Jackson just in the ways their voices are. I think I heard it most on "Big Steppa."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BIG STEPPA")

AMAARAE: (Singing) You want to desert me like I been auctioned⁸ off. See, I had to, to be pressure, just to be option one.

NGANGURA: So both of them have very light voices that are sort of deceptive⁹ because you hear them and you think there's nothing really happening. They're not, like, belting out ballads¹⁰.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BIG STEPPA")

AMAARAE: (Singing) She never asked what you want. She can't love like I do. If she don't say me too. I need...

NGANGURA: It's always interesting to hear people who have gentle, delicate voices really play around with their tones and really play with their levels. And that's what Janet Jackson and Amaarae have similar.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BIG STEPPA")

AMAARAE: (Singing) Big Steppa, make up the room. Come get her. They know your body be pressure. Got to pay out the fee, don't waiver (ph). Don't waiver, my baby Big Steppa...

NGANGURA: So the song "Big Steppa" is dancehall-inspired, and it's also a pop song. It makes you want to get on the dance floor...

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BIG STEPPA")

AMAARAE: (Vocalizing).

NGANGURA: ...But it has that earworm quality of every great pop song. Like, once you hear it, you can't stop humming it in your head.

INSKEEP: Tarisai Ngangura reviewing Amaarae's new album, "Fountain Baby."

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 genres   

（文学、艺术等的）类型，体裁，风格( genre的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Novel and short story are different genres. 长篇小说和短篇小说是不同的类别。
• But confusions over the two genres have a long history. 但是类型的混淆，古已有之。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 fusion   

n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接

参考例句：

• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc. 黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
• This alloy is formed by the fusion of two types of metal.这种合金是用两种金属熔合而成的。

5 coalesce   

v.联合，结合，合并

参考例句：

• And these rings of gas would then eventually coalesce and form the planets.这些气体环最后终于凝结形成行星。
• They will probably collide again and again until they coalesce.他们可能会一次又一次地发生碰撞，直到他们合并。

6 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

8 auctioned   

v.拍卖( auction的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was sad to see all grandmother's lovely things being auctioned off. 眼看着祖母那些可爱的东西全都被拍卖掉，心里真不好受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder. 电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 deceptive   

adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• His appearance was deceptive.他的外表带有欺骗性。
• The storyline is deceptively simple.故事情节看似简单，其实不然。

10 ballads   

民歌，民谣，特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 )； 讴

参考例句：

• She belted out ballads and hillbilly songs one after another all evening. 她整晚一个接一个地大唱民谣和乡村小调。
• She taught him to read and even to sing two or three little ballads,accompanying him on her old piano. 她教他读书，还教他唱两三首民谣，弹着她的旧钢琴为他伴奏。