Kamaiyah – “Windows” (Feat. Quavo & Tyga)
Quavo and Tyga are two of the most overexposed rappers on the face of the planet. Both of them seem to appear on about five new songs every week, and few of those songs are really worthy of your attention. A song with both Quavo and Tyga seems like about the most replacement-level rap song that you could possibly imagine. And yet if the song in question is a new Kamaiyah single, you might just have to say “fuck it” and pay attention.
Kamaiyah, the Oakland rap destroyer, is a true American original, a hurricane of charisma and positive energy. And yet she can’t seem to get anything off the ground commercially. Kamaiyah hasn’t released a full-length project since 2017’s Before I Wake mixtape. In the past year, she’s released singles with both Travis Scott and Schoolboy Q, and neither of those has really gone anywhere. So if it takes a Quavo/Tyga collab to get her out into the world, then that’s just what it takes.
And as it happens, “Windows,” Kamaiyah’s new single, is a very good rap song! Quavo and Tyga both know how to rap, even if they do it too much. And Kamaiyah remains a total joy: “If you don’t fuck with us, then you really are against us / Motherfuckers, stop stealing our culture!” And she hasn’t made the classic mistake of making an Atlanta or LA song. Instead, the beat, from Trackademicks and Drew Banga, is a classic hyphy banger, so Quavo and Tyga have to adapt to Kamaiyah’s aesthetic, instead of she adapting to theirs. Check it out below.
“Windows” is out now on the streaming services.