Mereba has just released her first single of the year, “Rider” – in which Mereba claims that she is as steady and rooted in love as a grand oak tree that’s stood the test of time.
In a world that is divided, unpredictable, and violent – Mereba believes that the only thing left living for is love. The act of giving and receiving love, that Bonnie and Clyde type of ride or die is the only thing that seems to spark a sense of fire and excitement in Mereba these days.
She sings in the chorus, “Oh, but you light my fire. I wanna be your rider, your rider. I wanna satisfy you.”
Sonically this track is a big departure from Mereba’s usual folk and rap influences that can be found in her first album, The Jungle Is the Only Way Out. This single sounds like nothing I have ever heard from Mereba before. Instead of this track eliciting a sense of collective reflection and contemplation – it makes you want to dance.
The single’s instrumentation and Mereba’s vocals give this song a sense of levitation away from the burdens of reality. She sings, “The world feels like a weight, enemy of the state.”
If the world feels like a weight on her shoulders, then Mereba is transforming herself and this single into a bird – taking flight and relinquishing herself from the heaviness that keeps tying up her wings.
The Jungle Is The Only Way Out also carried the same theme of having to run, to ride away from the world’s hidden intentions, lurking up behind you like a ruthless Jaguar.
Mereba often references running, not only as a form of escapism, but mainly as one’s will to survive. For African Americans, running was not a choice, but their only option to seek some form of liberation. Mereba recognizes this theme of running not just that exists for her community now but that of her ancestors as well.
Those who were enslaved and ran were considered “runaways” – their faces plastered on flyers and their life sold for the exchange of money. In the more literal sense, Harriet Tubman comes to mind as well. Her underground railroad assisted thousands of slaves in their ride to freedom.
Mereba recognizes that the urgency to run is still here. Running as a survival tactic is materialized in her community as well today. Whether that be African Americans being forced to run from the cops, poverty, or dancing bullets – Mereba desires love to be something that she can always rely on as a form of security.
She wants to offer her unconditional love to those who also help replenish her spirit as well. Stream “Rider” by Mereba, it is the perfect song to kick off your summer!
