The Sunday Music Drop is a weekly radio series hosted by the KQED weekend news team. In each segment, we feature a song from a local musician with an upcoming show and hear about what inspires their music.
For Vallejo’s Zyah Belle, her song 'DND' is about fully owning who she is and being comfortable with her authenticity, though it's also about "your phone being on DND (do not disturb)."
"It's truly about being in my own world and not paying so much attention to all the distractions or opinions of other people," said Belle.
Belle describes her music as having elements of soul, neo-soul and R&B in addition to upbeat hyphy and hip-hop elements that "allow you to find a song to fit any mood that you're in."
Belle grew up listening to E-40, but her mom also put on Tony! Toni! Toné! "Tony just allowed me to have such a great balance of these two different varying sounds that came out of the Bay Area," Belle said.
She likes to share the joy in music with others.
"Whenever someone turns on Marvin Gaye at a barbecue and everybody gets up and dances — the moment just feels like love and joy," she said. "That's part of the reason why I make music."
She’ll be performing live on Oct. 16, 2022, at Cafe du Nord in San Francisco.