Meet Inayah Lamis, singer, rapper, and songwriter from Houston Texas that is definitely helping to keep R&B alive!
Inayah is a singer, rapper, and songwriter who achieved social media fame with her rendition of Ella Mai’s “Boo’d Up,”. While working with Grammy award-winning producer Rico Love, Inayah made her commercial recorded debut in 2018 and has since issued her first album, S.O.L.A.R. released in 2019.
It would be this summer of 2022 before I was first introduced to the talented Inayah. DVSN released a new single over the summer entitled “If I Get Caught” that sparked a wave of cries for a response from the female R&B community. The fans asked, and female R&B artists such as Chole Bailey, Kandi Burruss and Tiny, and Baby Tate took to their social media platforms to respond, and so did Inayah. Her rendition of the toxic single was hands down my favorite!
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Inayah Lamis was born on November 08, 1989, in Houston Texas where she developed her storytelling writing style from absorbing the gospel, blues, and R&B records played by her mother that she eventually equated into hip-hop. She began singing at the tender age of 2 years old and wrote her first song at the age of 10. From Johnnie Taylor to the 504 Boyz, most of Inayah’s formative inspirations come from the South.
Inayah had been working as a writer at a jingle company for several years when her version of Ella Mai’s “Boo’d Up” went viral on Instagram, reposted by celebrities such as Tiffany Haddish, Maxwell, and Jamie Foxx. Another fan was rapper Trick Daddy, who put Inayah in touch with legendary soul singer Betty Wright, another one of Inayah’s mother’s favorites. Wright had become a fan of Inayah’s and mentored her in the music industry.
After Inayah struck a distribution deal with Empire, she released her first single ‘Fairy Tale”, an evocative, soulfully poignant song that traces the history of a storybook relationship gone wrong.
The following year, the singer dropped her debut full-length project, S.O.L.A.R. in December of 2019, which is an acronym for “Storytelling Over Lyrics And Rhymes”, featuring production from Micah Powell, Cassius Jay, and the Aristocrats. Within S.O.L.A.R. is Inayah’s vivid narration of a failed partnership on the standout track, “Best Thing.”
The single “Sugar Daddy” also received rave reviews as many fans wanted to know if the song stemmed from real life events. During an interview with Refinery29, she publicly admitted to having dated an older guy. She stated, “Anytime something impacts my life, I write it down and make a song out of it. This is based on a true story. I dated an older man, so I wrote it down and couldn’t keep it to myself. I had to tell the world about it. I’ve also dabbled in dating older men, and while I wouldn’t say they were sugar daddies, I will say they took me by surprise. It wasn’t what I was expecting.”
One of my favorite songs from the album is “N.A.S.”, I love the way she put the lyrics together for this song! “…had about 5 or 6 kids he aint even mention!”
The track “Fallin” would come in 2021 with the release of her Side A EP which consists of 6 songs. The single speaks directly to the salacious emotions that come with a newfound love over a sample of ‘90s R&B group Blackstreet’s hit “Don’t Leave Me.”
Inayah’s influences are undoubtedly Betty Wright, K. Michelle, and Millie Jackson. The industry likens her to artists such as Vedo, Light Skin Keisha and Ella Mai. I feel like she has the voice I expected Ciara to have, and I definitely get a Kelly Roland and Ella Mai vibe when listening to her music. I am very much so looking forward to the release of her newest project Insecure which includes the newly released single “Most Girlz”, check it out below!
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