{"id":1943447,"date":"2026-05-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1943447"},"modified":"2026-05-19T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:00:00","slug":"wonderland-187","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1943447","title":{"rendered":"Wonderland"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\tWonderland<\/span>
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\n\t\t\tWHY BE A POPSTAR WHEN YOU CAN BE A BLACK STAR?<\/span>
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There\u2019s the rockstar, the popstar, and Amaarae\u2019s BLACK STAR<\/em>. Making her London Roundhouse landing post-release of her third studio album, the Afropop star proved why all three can be true at once.<\/h3>\n
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\"Why
Photography by Original Ashawo by Rayan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cARE YOU READY?\u201d yells Ghanaian-American singer-songwriter Amaarae into the crowd at Camden\u2019s London Roundhouse last month, before welcoming the room to the \u201cBlack fucking Star Experience.\u201d They responded immediately: roaring with deafening screams and bodies surging forward in waves as fans reached toward the stage in near-unison. The \u201cPrincess Going Digital\u201d, one of the top hits from her second studio album, Fountain Baby<\/em> (2023), that boosted her status as a rising artist, emerged from the stage sidelines, tall strips of strobing lights cascading in the colours of the Ghanaian flag, as she posed in the centre \u2013 she is the BLACK STAR<\/a><\/em> after all.<\/p>\n

With the Roundhouse\u2019s door swinging open only a few hours earlier, the atmosphere simmered to a boil. With openers Deela and BINA. warming up the room with their braid-swinging and head-bouncing panache, the floor steadily began to fill shoulder-to-shoulder. But once Amaarae came on stage, the energy shifted entirely. The iconic Camden venue transformed into that of a highly-anticipated club night.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the uniquely uncanny thing about an Amaarae show: it captures that side of concert culture that is often romanticised online \u2013 when gigs could be snapshots of subculture(s). Still, they exist, but they\u2019re buried in the rumblings of the underground. At this show, nobody is \u2018too cool\u2019 to dance. In fact, let loose \u2013 you\u2019re encouraged to. There\u2019s no standing still for appearances\u2019 sake because, well, who cares? For two hours, the collective objective becomes streamlined \u2013 in this house, you sweat, you scream and you go \u201cas crazy as you fucking can.\u201d Her words, not mine.<\/p>\n

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\"Why
Amaarae performing \u201cStarkilla\u201d with surprise guest, Bree Runway.
Photography by Original Ashawo by Rayan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Thankfully, Amaarae aka the \u2018BLACK STAR\u2019 knows exactly how to engineer that feeling. Dressed in a slick, bodycon Balenciaga-esque look complete with neon yellow heels, she strutted, sashayed and spun across the stage like a primed pop star packaged as a nocturnal rager. This is part of her sonic superpower. Her music flourishes in juxtaposition. Her whisper-like, soft vocals crash against cutting-edge production. Lyrically, she\u2019s empowering and sensual, charming with an undercurrent of impugnation \u2013 which, really, she always has been. That said, her third studio album is about embracing the fun of it all. You\u2019ll dance and sing along, but she\u2019s not merely set on being an artist made for the stage. Her songs are also fastened by witty wordplay that serves as cultural reflections and convictions. And even at their most radio-ready, these tracks resonate with the underbelly. When performed live, those tensions smooth out \u2013 or maybe the jagged edges get that bit sharper.<\/p>\n

Amaarae has already brushed against the edges of mainstream pop infrastructure, from a stage-shaking, history-making Coachella set (she\u2019s the first Ghanaian woman to have a solo slot at the festival) to opening dates on Sabrina Carpenter\u2019s Short \u2018n\u2019 Sweet<\/em> tour \u2013 the latter of which was a personal invitation. But BLACK STAR<\/em> feels like the turning point. The moment where she fully embraces a step \u2013 or multiple \u2013 outside of the status quo, and into her own manifesto. Instead of positioning herself adjacent to pop stardom, or in its direct line, she\u2019s invested in building her own blueprint.<\/p>\n

From the balcony to the black boots-stamped floor, she bounced through bratty club-pop, hyperactive Afrobeats and distorted alt-R&B without it ever feeling disjointed. Tracks that timestamp her rise, the sassy \u201cStuck Up\u201d, the post-runway afterparty anthem with \u201cms60\u201d, the hits that pushed her into global consciousness: \u201cSAD GIRLS LUV MONEY\u201d, her sizzling summer anthem featuring fellow Ghanaian-American artist MOLIY from her debut album, The Angel You Don\u2019t Know<\/em> (2020). She dips between the fast bump of pop tunes to the bounce of Afrobeats\/swing tracks. Effortlessly, she weaves in the sounds she\u2019s influenced by, but also the productions she\u2019s not scared to experiment with \u2013 this has always been a special sauce of sorts for her. But it\u2019s the real scale of her ambition as an artist that becomes clearer with BLACK STAR<\/em>. Sure, she\u2019s for the \u201cGirlie-pop!\u201d girls, but her discography demands more depth and nuance of that limitation \u2013 this is an artist that has mastered the increasingly difficult task of making experimental music feel (and sound) massive and<\/em> good. To accomplish a show of this sonic magnitude with pomp and finesse \u2013 that\u2019s a vision and intention that only Amaarae could have foresight on.<\/p>\n

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\"Why
Original Ashawo by Rayan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

That striking balance that she resides in comfortably is what makes her such a fascinating artist to watch right now. Over the last two decades, Black artists crossing into global pop spaces are often flattened into familiar archetypes. There\u2019s Tyla as the internet-buzzy pop girl, Wizkid as the alt-pop star, Burna Boy as the Afrobeats titan. Before showing the breadth of their creativity and influence, they are boxed in. Here, on her stage, at home or elsewhere, Amaarae resists all of them at once. Pulling from alt\u00e9, house, Afropop, punk, heavy rock, R&B and hyperpop, both the booth and the mixing board become her expansive canvas without ever being curated specifically for Western ears. Even through those side-eye moments where the bass rattled so violently it felt as though the floor itself might cave in, there was an arresting safety. It\u2019s an edge that Amaarae\u2019s persona and music together have always carried \u2013 a slight restlessness, an undercurrent of infectious anarchy. Her Roundhouse show showcased her aversion to being pinned down.<\/p>\n

Perhaps, despite the obvious cultural connotations, that\u2019s why the \u2018BLACK STAR\u2019 label works so well. Amaarae isn\u2019t trying to become the next version of an existing pop archetype. Rather, she\u2019s building an ethno-cosmic universe \u2013 herself at the centre, and rightfully so \u2013 where African futurism, internet culture, sexuality, nightlife and experimental sound can coexist without compromise. Closing the night by inviting over 20 fans on stage to sing, dance and revel alongside her under her spotlight with the empowering, \u201cFineshyt\u201d, off of her 2025 BLACK STAR<\/em> album, that vision felt fully realised. And judging by the aftermath of the legendary London venue, she\u2019s quickly growing an army who would let her lead them into her BLACK STAR<\/em>-spangled galaxy.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Words \u2013 Aswan Magumbe<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t19 May 2026\t\t\t<\/div>\n
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Live Shows<\/a><\/div>\n
Music<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\tWhat the Hot Girls are Reading This Spring<\/span> <\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\tThe holiday wardrobe of the cool girls<\/span> <\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wonderland WHY BE A POPSTAR WHEN YOU CAN BE A BLACK STAR? There\u2019s the rockstar, the popstar, and Amaarae\u2019s BLACK STAR. Making her London Roundhouse landing post-release of her third studio album, the Afropop star proved why all three can be true at once. Photography by Original Ashawo by Rayan \u201cARE YOU READY?\u201d yells Ghanaian-American […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,257],"class_list":["post-1943447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-wonderlandmagazine-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1943447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1943447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1943447\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1943447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1943447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1943447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}