Alpha Menjoh arrives on the scene unapologetically with his debut single, "Why Would I Go Home," not merely as a new artist from Sierra Leone, but as a new poignant narrator of life through sound. This is a confessional, half haunting, half heartfelt that contemplates identity, loyalty, and an emotional tug-of-war between survival in the past and a hope for the future.
Menjoh, who started writing music when he was 12, pulls no punches on this debut. His voice is bestowed with a weighty, lived-in quality and firmly rooted in a stunning amount of openness, a rare thing for a debut. From the first line, it's apparent that we're being invited into a heart-on-the-sleeve account that's not interested in sugarcoating.
Minimal, immersive production, brooding synths, distant melodies, and a beat that echoes like footsteps in a deserted street support the composition. It offers the perfect platform for Alpha's reflective lyrics, balancing resilience and weariness. His delivery is unfiltered, here veritable, there conversational, as if he isn't simply rapping and singing and releasing the pages of his decade-old journal.
At the heart of "Why Would I Go Home" is a cutting question that is both literal and metaphorical. Many listeners will find themselves able to relate to this state, whether they hail from similar circumstances or not.