September 26, 2024
Ciana Gibson, a 20-year-old vocalist who performs as Yanna G., is generating buzz with her debut album produced by Chase N. Cashe.
Launches debut album, ‘On Everything I Love’
On a warm evening in late July, about 80 people gathered in Dareales, a sneaker and clothing store on Dorchester Avenue, to hear the debut album of Ciana Gibson, a 20-year-old vocalist who performs as Yanna G. She can walk to the storefront boutique from her home, so the crowd that night included bunches of friends and family and teammates alongside music executives, some of whom flew into Boston to attend.
They included Chase N. Cashe, a Grammy-award-winning producer who has worked with some of the biggest names in music – from Eminem and Drake to Kendrick Lamar and Frank Ocean.
“This girl is amazing,” Cashe told the hyped-up party audience. “The new generation, they got substance, they got something to say, and they’re coming from a place that it’s not expected from. This is a moment.”
The store, packed with Boston kids, reflected the moment as the tracks from her debut album, “On Everything I Love,” boomed from the speakers and Yanna G sang along to her own vocals.
Later, she told The Reporter that the release was about more than personal success. It was about representing the people she grew up with and “speaking the words they didn’t or couldn’t speak.”
Cassidy Nguyen photo
The album has been released by the Boston-based label Words Speak Life, a name that also serves as Yanna G’s personal mantra. She sees real power in her lyrics, believing that once something’s spoken, it’ll come true.
“Words speak life, but this is just the intro, so,” she notes on the album’s first track “Brighter Dayz.” On the second, “My Desires,” Yanna G leaves no room for debate about her boundaries. She’ll no longer let men throw her off her schedule or mess with her mind anymore because that messes with her anxiety.
Integral to her artistry is her childhood in Dorchester, specifically her time playing basketball. The thumping beat of “Major League” takes listeners back to when Yanna G’s excitedly cheered on the Celtics and went hooping with her friends.
Likening her feelings to Angel Reese’s, a WNBA player who is having a historic rookie season, Yanna G tells how ready she is to bask in her success after lots of hard work. Basketball taught her “how to grind even when it’s hard” and how to use her craft as an emotional outlet, except that now music’s her outlet.
As she records, she channels her childhood inspirations: Lauryn Hill, Mary J. Blige, and Erykah Badu to create R&B songs infused with hip-hop elements like she did on “Heart Breaker.”
The Reporter caught up with Yanna G at The Record Co., a recording studio on Mass Ave in Newmarket with community work space. She was dressed in camo cargo pants, a Dallas stars jersey, and a camo Boston Red Sox hat. Chunky gold jewelry adorning her neck, wrists, and fingers completed the outfit, creating an effortlessly cool streetwear that looks like the ones on influencers’ Instagram posts.
She popped into Studio C where her music career started three years ago. Her two EPs, singles, and album were all made in her bedroom, which has been equipped with an Amazon bundle of music equipment, complete with a standing mic on her dresser surrounded by noise shoulders.
“When I’m writing, when I’m recording, those are the times when I get to cry the most, where I get to be my most vulnerable self,” she said. “So being around a whole bunch of people, it’s not easy for me, because I felt like I just can’t open up.”
One person Yanna G opens up to is Ikenna Ndugba, her manager and a family friend. A mutual friend, the Boston-based artist Nay Speaks, was already part of the Words Speak Life label. “Obviously, I love recording by myself,” she said, “but I’m trying to figure out how to mix and master, and at the same time having to email people, I was like, ‘No, I need help. This is too much going on.’”
For Ndugba, the choice to work with Yanna G was easy since he had observed her work ethic and believed that she has a powerful message to share. He says managing Yanna G is about answering one question: “How do we make sure people hear what she’s saying and feel what she’s saying?”
Ndugba helped with the album’s song selection, combing through Yanna G’s catalog of recorded songs to pick the ones that could tell a complete story when arranged properly, interlocked like puzzle pieces. He’s also there to push Yanna G when she needs it. During the creation of “On Everything I Love,” Ndugba encouraged her to keep the track “My Desires” as it appears on the album rather than replacing it with a more subdued version.
Yanna G says it wasn’t her intention to create an album that tells a full story; rather it just happened that way as her music mirrors her real life, whether she’s experiencing a season of heartbreak or healing.
While creating music is a cathartic experience for her, she said she hopes releasing her music will show her audience that we all have more in common with each other than we think. She hopes each listener listens to the album selfishly, taking what they need from it.
Yanna G wants her album to teach listeners a lesson that she recently learned on her own: Some relationships end without an apology or closure. “Releasing that for me was my apology to myself. I said to myself, ‘Baby girl, no matter where you feel like people might owe you or what you might deserve, it can always be replenished within yourself.”
The album’s last song, “Sky Angel,” was written after Gibson’s uncle passed away last year. As she used her home studio as a creative outlet to grieve, it reminded her of her uncle’s attic recording studio where she’d record her poems over a track.
She recalls thinking “release, release, release” as she recorded “Sky Angel.” She made an intentional choice to end the album on a heavier note, saying, “If you sit and listen to the album again on a loop, it goes back to “Brighter Dayz.” For me, going from “Sky Angel” dealing with a heavier topic, back to “Brighter Dayz,” it shows there’s always a brighter day.”
As she continues with her career, Yanna G hopes she will remain intentional when making music for herself and others. “There’s not really a motive other than I need to get this off my chest when I make music,” she said.
