BLACK STAR
BLACK STAR Album ∙ Pop ∙ 2025 Amaarae The Ghanaian singer-songwriter’s third full-length is almost overwhelming at first approach, even when taking into account the big melodic strokes of her instant-classic 2023 record Fountain Baby . Unlike that record’s New Wave streaks and effervescent pop cadences, BLACK STAR is wall-to-wall dance music that treats the last 40 years of pop like an endless palette. There are sly interpolations of Gucci Mane’s “I Might Be” and, in the case of the slinky “She Is My Drug,” Cher’s deathless anthem “Believe.” Fellow modern pop vanguard PinkPantheress throws in for the satisfying techno pulser “Kiss Me Thru the Phone Pt. 2,” a seeming reference to Soulja Boy’s ringtone-ready 2008 hit, while Naomi Campbell (yes, the Naomi Campbell) closes out “ms60” with a solid-gold monologue extoling the virtues of embodying the album’s title. SoulFlame App ∙ Entertainment ∙ 2025 Daedalia, Inc. You’ve wande...