Winter is still there but the musical gardens of Belgium are already witnessing the emergence of the most intriguing flower of them all: WAYI, springing up with her debut single The Way I Am. Her effortless elegance and sensual voice have already enchanted the national radio MNM for which she performed several times and the Belgian rappers K1D and TheColorGrey, who respectively featured her on the tracks Delorean Dreams and Clear Blue Skies in 2017.

Growing up at church, the 24-year-old singer-songwriter spent most of her childhood with the gospel as her faithful companion. Through the years, this planted seed has been watered with Songs In A Minor and other wordy rivers irrigated by Alicia Keys. The first melodious bud appeared at 11 when WAYI had to sing in the school choir. After years of studying and covering her favorite acts, she eventually became inspired to take up her pen. What started as innocent stories and novels slowly flourished into a bouquet of lyrics about the purest and most complex feeling: Love. With a subtle delicateness and a refreshing honesty, WAYI explores every petal and thorn of this universal theme, narrating her own experiences just as in her song The Way I Am. “I almost lost myself to a man who liked me but not enough to accept me with all my flaws. Unconsciously, I started changing just to please him. Now that I've learned from it, I’s just say ‘fuck it’. You take the good and the bad or you leave it all!”, recalls the R&B artist who’s inspired by many women in music such as Jhené Aiko, Solange or SIA.

Perfumed with Spanish guitars, the track produced by James Lowland exudes confidence, empowering other women to let their love blossom but not at the cost of their self-worth. These dreamy harmonies and strong sense of identity say it all: WAYI is a natural - watch her bloom withThe Way I Am, out on all platforms on February 20.