The pandemic was so hard for so many people, including Wild Black, who spent it isolating alone, feeling depressed with no desire to create for the better part of the first year. Recognizing she needed to focus on her mental health, she took took some necessary steps for herself (therapy, lifestyle, community, etc) and continued on her healing journey.

In January 2021, during yet another lockdown and isolating along, Wild Black was feeling in yet another low place but despite this sent an optimistic Happy New Year text to her friend and collaborator, Ash. In that text she recognized an opportunity for a song. Feeling inspired, Wild Black fleshed out the chorus lyrics, came up with a melody, and sent the vocal recording to Ash who then wrote a beat and sent it back to her. In love with the idea and vibe, Wild Black took the stems and expanded on the song. The following months were spent arranging and building on the song (including an epic sax solo Wild Black wrote, and Aubrey McGee performed!) and when she finally got it to a point where she felt she couldn't expand on it anymore, she called producer Derek Hoffman to help her elevate and bring the song to the finish line.

Music is therapy for Wild Black who in recent years has developed a better understanding with her own struggles with mental health. Namely an ADHD diagnosis, and the anxiety and depression that comes with it, which put a lot of things into perspective for her, making sense of her life and how her brain works, and has been instrumental in helping Wild Black slowly release a lot of shame she’s internalized and has held her back for far too long. While writing and recording the first verse she found herself in a pool of tears. Listening back, sobbing, she realized the reason the lyrics resonated with her so much was because she was speaking to herself, more specifically, to her inner child, and that these were words she really needed to hear. Having never experienced such a strong emotional response to her own writing in this way before, this was a very special and therapeutic moment for her, and she hopes the song will resonate with others in a positive way.

Sonically, this song is equal parts dark, dreamy and dancey. It begins with a more subdued melancholic tone and sense of yearning, exploring themes of heartache, inner conflict, expansion, rebirth, and self-love, it evolves into a celebratory explosion of hopefulness, liberation, and joy. This song was created out of a necessity to heal and grow, to give myself permission to be bold and courageous, to live unapologetically, and to always Stay Dreamin.