Earlier this year, Kamaiyah released her long-awaited third record Got It Made after ending a deal with Interscope. But that wasn’t the last we’ve heard of her. Since debuting the album, Kamaiyah has been steadily sharing a handful of stand-alone singles, including “Extravagant” and “Go Crazy,” which earned a quarantine-style video. Now, the Bay Area rapper returns with the easygoing number “Black Excellence.”
Aptly arriving on Juneteenth, “Black Excellence” features Kamaiyah flaunting her achievements with a polished flow over a cruising beat. “I’m Black excellence / B*tch check my melanin,” she repeats at the chorus.
Ahead of the single’s release, Kamaiyah had some beef with Kehlani. Kamaiyah accused the singer of colorism after her verse was removed from Kehlani’s “All Me.” Addressing the situation on social media, Kamaiyah said: “I feel like it never should have came out. I never wanted ‘All Me’ to come out and she wanted ‘All Me’ to come out… It was our song, we did a project together… if anything I was genuine. My problem came from the disrespect. It was out of hand. It was on some, ‘Oh you’re Black, you’re ghetto, you’re not tasteful.’”
Listen to “Black Excellence” above.
Got It Made is out now via GRNDWRK/Empire. Get it here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.