Mereba, Divina

  • Mereba

     Southern-bred, alternative R&B singer-songwriter Mereba artistically embodies self-understanding on The Breeze Grew a Fire, her grandest work and first release on Secretly Canadian. To hone in on this latest album, it was necessary for Mereba to reconnect with her whole many-sided self, from her inner child to her inseparable relationships. Mereba peacefully transmutes her beginnings, looking upon her closest kinships and friendships with a keen understanding of their steadying, inspirational force. Surrounded by the gentle Breeze of these relationships and recollections, Mereba is empowered as both an artist and mother, while also being reminded to nurture her childlike wonder. 
    Mereba gracefully shines on the follow-up to her bounteous 2019 debut, The Jungle Is the Only Way Out. In escaping the Jungle, Mereba faced the paradigm shift of birthing a son in 2021 and getting accustomed to a rapidly changing self-outlook. Mereba’s creative output has always relied on her innermost reflections and ideas on whatever was happening around her; but in motherhood, the singer’s perspective widened while her inspiration became more focused, and more individually powerful. 
    “Even though I'm fully an adult, I had to grow up in a way overnight when he [my son] came,” Mereba explains. “The process of watching him open up to the world, learn how to engage with the world, it is very tender. I feel like it's the most reminded I've ever been of when I was a child and the first memories I have of life.” 
    The transformation brought Mereba to the intimacy of DIY recording sessions, providing an honest and organic foundation to Breeze. Mereba tapped her longtime production collaborator Sam Hoffman to co-assemble the album’s rich production, which parallels its folk-like warmth. Although Mereba is a true double Earth sign–Virgo and Virgo rising–the development of Breeze was anchored by experiences and memories that span from Atlanta to L.A., Addis Ababa to Greensboro, an intention that speaks to the album’s fluid nature. While nowhere near the end of her musical trek, The Breeze Grew a Fire is a loving, inspiring return to origin, one where Mereba frees a painful past, eases into future possibilities, and goes with life’s flow.
     

  • Divina
    Divina is a talented young vocalist and multi instrumentalist rooted in R&B, Soul and Hip-Hop music. Her raw take on the genre is reminiscent of Erykah Badu and Lauren Hill but still completely her own. Divina has recently teamed up with the BOOSTiVE collective to further explore her love of dub, world, and roots reggae. 
     
    BOOSTiVE a full 10 piece band has spent the last few years touring with acts like Dirtwire, Slightly Stoopid, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and has been featured at music festivals Lightning in a Bottle, Lucidity and Joshua Tree Music Festival. The group feels they have found their missing link in Divina and has started a smaller side project showcasing her amazing talent.  The "Boostive Sound System" is a smaller faction of the collective and has an emphasis on horns, percussion and vocals. Performing with a horn section, Live Dj mixing, and percussion, the band leaves space for Divina to shine through.