Momii Rae Achieves a Distinct Emotional Warmth on the R&B-Nodding “Place”

An insistent sax trails the entirety of Place,  a homely record from Momii Rae. A foundational element in the music of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, contemporary artists have evoked the instrument in a subtler sense, utilizing its naturally breezy candor to create emotive resonance. On the first listen, this song by the artist born Aduramomi Esther Adekunle seems to descend from the R&B and Soul tradition, on account of the artist’s warm vocal delivery. Indeed, the vulnerability associated with those genres are present in “Place,” but there’s also a simultaneous afro-inspired charge that enlivens the record.

This is present not only in that lovely sax, but also in the bouncy progression of the drums and underlying mellow notes. As a result, the song sounds like a mix between the poetic yearning of Asa and the more engaged crooning of Simi, both of whom surely act as forebears to the kind of music Momii creates. Although just coming under two minutes, a breeze through her yet-slim catalog would show that she favors this sort of close-up approach. Most of her songs don’t reach the two-minute mark, and many of them utilize the sax, although she reaches a fine accumulation of this style on Place, whose sound is grounded by the phrases delivered in Yoruba and the aforementioned use of drums. “Ololufe, I’ll be right there / You’re my peace, I’m in your care,” she sings in the most tender of tones, just before the last sweep of the chorus. 

There’s no doubt this is an artist who prizes the accumulative gains of collaboration, and on this record, she manages to pull across these different registers for the sake of love. It’s an entirely charming effort, one that succeeds on its own terms.