megiapa to Make Lo-Fi R&B Debut on International Anthem
The Chicago-based label will release the artist's multilingual debut album.
Musician megiapa is set to release a lo-fi R&B debut on International Anthem, the Chicago-based record label known for its work at the intersection of jazz, experimental, and contemporary music.
Ohio-born, Los Angeles-based linguist, producer, visual artist, and vocalist megiapa has announced her International Anthem debut album — INTENTIONS — out on vinyl LP and digitally September 25. She introduces the new body of work with a self-directed video for the album's lead track 'Open Your Eyes,' which is also available as a single on all digital music platforms.
Photo by megiapa
megiapa's sound was forged over a decade of development on Chicago's underground beat scene, where she regularly played standing nights like Push Beats, Open Beats, and Fresh Roasted, alongside artists like Sev Seveer, Radius ETC, Elijah Jamal Asani, and DJ Moppy. Majorly inspired by the contemporaneous Low End Theory scene of Los Angeles and artists like Madlib, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Flying Lotus, and Daedelus, megiapa's early music was made in headphones at home, where she stitched together samples in Audacity. When she started playing out, she was one of few female artists on the Chicago beat scene, and was also unique in that world in that she brought a mic to sing over her own beats. As curator, event producer and International Anthem community leader King Hippo began weaving beatmakers into the fabric of the label's live presentations in their early days, megiapa was one of the earliest crossovers he introduced, inviting her to open for artists like Makaya McCraven, Bottle Tree, and Ben LaMar Gay.
INTENTIONS is a collection of music birthed by megiapa during her time in Chicago (initiated in part by a grant from the city's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, in fact), but was made truly possible by the surge of growth she experienced after relocating to Los Angeles in 2023. In three years on the West Coast, megiapa has had a full and enthusiastic embrace from the LA jazz, beats and underground hip hop communities, and has become a regular collaborator of artists like Stacy Epps, Stones Throw artist Mocky, and innovative bassist/multiinstrumentalist The Growth Eternal. As she found her voice and place in the LA scene, megiapa's vision for her new album coalesced, and she finished the music by incorporating live instruments from The Growth Eternal, pianist Ahmad Muhammad aka Kafari (known for his work with Sudan Archives), drummer (and Pan Afrikan People's Arkestra musical director) Mekala Session, Telemakus, Will Miller (of Resavoir) percussionist Allakoi 'Mic Holden' Peete, and others, plus vocals from Voices of Creation singer Aankha Neal, and additional contributions from Blvck Spvde, 10.4 ROG, and more. megiapa then returned to Chicago in February 2026 to do final mixing on the album at International Anthem Studios with engineer Dave Vettraino.
In his liner notes for the album, writer Marcus J. Moore says INTENTIONS 'feels handmade in the truest sense: every synth patch, vocal harmony and drum pattern carries the residue of lived experience…By the time Intentions concludes, what remains is the feeling of having accompanied someone through a profound shift. The album asks listeners to relinquish their fear of the unknown. Again and again, megiapa returns to the same guiding principle: trust the process; everything will work out.'
About what she learned through her work, and what she hopes to communicate with INTENTIONS, megiapa says: 'Fear is a hindrance to our dreams and our goals and the beauty of life. Please dream with me. Please take a moment to reflect. And please be okay with things being uncertain.'
INTENTIONS lead track 'Open Your Eyes,' available as a video and digital single on all platforms, drops listeners straight into megiapa's sound world with an instant electric piano pickup. A delightfully infectious beat is fronted by megiapa's voice and a legion of her own vocal harmonies in a positivity-laced update on turn-of-the-century Baduizms. Complete with crisp snare cracks, the percussive wash of bells, and an endlessly satisfying layered-dynamic-low-end pulse, 'Open Your Eyes' is two minutes and fifteen seconds of high level, soul-warming R&B. 'Everything we need is within us,' megiapa says of the track's message. 'We all reflect each other.'
INTENTIONS is out September 25 and available for preorder at internationalanthemrecording.com.
TRACKLIST
Open Your Eyes
.....!
Dreaming About You
( ( on the spaceway ) )
Black Gold of the Sun
To Enjoy
Can't Believe
on the spaceway (frfr)
My Baby
wishing (u) well
11.11
(SMT)
Crashing Down
rising_outro
CREDITS
Aankha Neal - additional vocals (5,13)
Ahmad Muhammad - piano, Juno (3, 4, 8, 13,14)
Aisha Mars - flute (5)
Allakoi 'Mic Holden' Peete - percussion (3, 5, 7, 9, 13)
Blvck Spude - additional vocals (13)
Dave Vettraino - additional production (11)
ghalani of Greenwood - bass (3, 7, 8, 9), additional bass (11)
Juliana Markwardt - vocal sample (2)
megiapa - production (2-14), vocals (1-14)
Mekala Session - drums / drum sample (2, 11,13)
Mocky - additional arrangement (13)
Telemakus - additional vocals, Rhodes, synths, harp (8)
10.4 ROG - instrumental production (1)
Will Miller - trumpet, EVI, additional piano (7)
All compositions and lyrics by megiapa except:
Open Your Eyes
Written by megiapa
Produced by 10.4 ROG
Dreaming About You
Written by Kevin Toney
Originally performed by The Blackbyrds
( ( on the spaceway ) )
End quote from Space Is the Place by Sun Ra
Black Gold of the Sun
Written by Charles Stepney and Richard Rudolph
Originally performed by The New Rotary Connection
Recorded and produced by megiapa between Chicago and Los Angeles
Additional recording by Viraj Gandhi at Chakram's Aarti HQ
Mixed by megiapa and Dave Vettraino
Mastered by David Allen
Artwork and photos by megiapa
infinite gratitude to the family, friends, collaborators, cities, and scenes that have supported and shaped this journey... Mama, Dada, Augie, Meli, Tiffany, Amalia, Amanda, Kate, Stacy, Alejandro, Viraj, Mocky, jiji & trudy...*∞°.+
LIVE DATES
Los Angeles CA - Thursday September 24th - INTENTIONS release show @ 2220 Arts+Archives
Photo Credit: megiapa
Photo Credit: megiapa
