LOS ANGELES, CA- With venom in her verses and velvet in her voice, iyla emerges from the flames with “Skirt Hurt (Redemption)”; a bold, biting track. It’s not just a breakup song—it’s a rebirth anthem wrapped in Y2K nostalgia and dipped in soulful defiance. Co-written with Jeremiah “Sickpen” Bethea and Y2, and produced by longtime sonic sculptor Kadis, the track is a fearless takedown of the kind of ex who didn’t just fumble the bag—they never even knew what they had.
It opens with a real groove—lush piano and her opening hook delivered like a slow burn confession:
“I am no saint, but you just a playboy Angels can’t save who don’t wanna be saved I am no saint, but you just a playboy Creepin’ in the dark, that messy little heart keeping secrets”
Then the drums kick in, anchoring the tempo at a brisk 148 BPM, and giving the track its strut. The breakbeats during the verses hit with real finesse, but it’s the way the drums disappear during the bridge that elevates the song to a higher plane. When iyla sings:“You got too comfortable Betrayed me to my soul Nothing can bring us back again There’s no redemption…”
…the isolation of her voice against that moment of silence lets the words hang in the air like incense—unshakable and burning. The production choices give the track real life. Even in its final moments, when she delivers the line “you need some holy water,” the subtly drums drop out again, punctuating the lyric like a gavel strike in a courtroom. Verdict: unredeemable.
But the outro… the outro takes a left turn. The groove slows, the mood shifts, and a downtempo jazz motif slides in under a spoken-word monologue in French. “What will I name you? I will name you. Love. Tender love…” it begins, in a passage that’s hard to fully grasp unless your French is strong—but even without full comprehension, the feeling is palpable. It’s tender, strange, romantic. And while it might not obviously tie in with the song’s “no second chances” message, perhaps that’s the point. Maybe this is the “Redemption” — not for the ex, but for iyla herself. A final blessing before the page turns.
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