Montreal R&B singer Zeina just released her debut EP Odd One Out independently, completing what has been a rewarding, but sometimes difficult process for the artist. In a recent Instagram post, Zeina expressed how the two opening songs on her project detail the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into the process. "Those songs are about the come-up," she said. "My year of struggles into this shit. It's not complaining but it's just facts. No co-sign, no label, being a female... I really need you guys to know that's where I come from."
On "My Light," a defiant track that finds Zeina belting and cooing over a chunky bassline from collaborator Prezident Jeff, is pretty clear in describing the singer's compromises for her art. "I stay with people I don’t even know," she sings. "Askem what they do but they keep it on the low / And I’mdoin all this on my own / Stayin on a couch, that I call my home / I got pressure to make something sick / Look at my career and I ask to make it quick." At the same time, she's looking over her shoulder: "I got lions watchin' me like fresh meat... Enemies I gotta keep next to me."
The seven-track EP features more production from Prezident Jeff as well as Josh J. It includes "Fallin," an infectious single released earlier this summer. Watch the video for the track below.
We previously featured Zeina's "Regina George" in our weekly 3 Artists You Should Hear column in July.
Listen to Odd One Out in full, here.
Quotable Lyrics:
Money in the streets I gotta clean
Money, money
All these bad eyes lookin' closely
Give me space, please
All I wanted you was to show me
That you loved me