When you’re listening to new age R&B, you want the rhythm and blues mixed with modern sounds of music. Mariah the Scientist is your answer.
Atlanta native Mariah Amani Buckles or better known as her stage name, dropped her newest album. Released on her 26th birthday, Buckles’ third album To Be Eaten Alive joined her discography on Friday, October 27.
With over three million monthly listeners on Spotify, some of her top songs are well over millions of streams. Mariah the Scientist’s top song is “Spread Thin” settling in under 71.6 million streams from her 2022 EP Buckles Laboratories Presents: The Intermission.
The first single “Bout Mine” was released the year prior, opening the doors to her new era after the song was inspired by the pain of being with a detached partner. The second single “From a Woman” released alongside the single “From a Man” written by her partner, Young Thug.
“Bout Mine” was the best decision to be released as the first single. The mixing done on this track gave a strong sense of where the musicality was going to be for her third album. The lyric “I bet you know I don’t play about mine” shows her devotion while the other person could slip away, without thinking of the consequences.
When listening to “From a Woman”, and comparing the lyrics to Young Thug’s “From a Man”, they are the opposite of one another. Buckles’ song is centered around being able to have a partner to rely on with “Won’t call you Slime ’cause it don’t fit/ I see you as more than this” while his song has the line “Real love inside me, got me comin’ home nightly.”
Her opening title track “Heaven Is a Place on Earth” starts with glistening chimes in tandem to Buckles singing about how significant a love can be for someone. This song was a melody for her to sing about a peaceful life for herself, and with a strong love it means even more.
One of my favorites from the album is “Out of Luck” from the catchy beat that plays throughout the hardship of realizing the relationship could be over. Mariah the Scientist sings about feeling hopeless about the connection from the lines “And if I, if I were losing you / Baby, would you make me believe? / Believe that I’m all out of luck, love.”
The album closed with “Ride” featuring Young Thug that is centered around the undying love for one another. The lyric sung by Buckles herself “Say he love Mariah, I might change it to Williams” refers to a future hope of marriage to the rapper, Jeffery Williams.
To Be Eaten Alive is an album for those looking to sing their hearts out, but also highlighting the failures of love in this generation. Mariah the Scientist is the artist to listen to on your way to class, to sing with your friends, and to get in your feelings.