“Have a story in mind when you listen to my EP,” Miranda Rae said when she introduced her new 7-track EP For What It’s Worth at her listening party in Nubian Open Studios for the Arts. She officially released the EP on June 2nd everywhere you can find music (it’s even on Tidal!)
Though it’s been a second since Miranda Rae dropped a project, it doesn’t feel as long because she’s been performing all around Boston and even a bit further in the past few years. Miranda Rae won Boston Music Awards’ R&B Artist of the Year in 2020 and was nominated for R&B Artist of the Year in 2021. She also toured with Chris Walton in early 2023 and has been performing here and there at High Street Place, for BAMS Fest’s S.O.U.Lstice at the Commons, and most recently at Dorchfest.
When asked what For What It’s Worth was about, she responded, “Love.” As she explained, “All my songs are love songs.” In line with that theme, the For What It’s Worth listening party at NOSA was clearly set up with an ambience of love in mind; there were candles, rose petals, fairy lights, pink and purple lighting, and a station where we could write little appreciation notes to and for Miranda.
Miranda Rae had originally planned to release For What It’s Worth in 2021 but life happens, and during the past two years, she revamped the already-recorded songs. She said she connects with the songs and lyrics now even more than when she wrote them.
The first track on For What It’s Worth is “stoneheart,” the beginning of the love story, which starts with the line “there was a time when I believed everything was true.” The next track is “pieces” (the clear fan-favorite from our reaction and us singing along to the “Oooh-ooooh-ooooh-ooooh-ooh what should I do?”), that highlights loving yourself from the line “Can someone please help me and love me to pieces?” The 3rd track, “over it,” is the song that surprised Miranda the most because it’s a different sound from what she usually does.
Once we get halfway through the EP, we reach “remorse,” which is Miranda Rae’s favorite song because it focuses on the theme of women taking accountability for their mistakes, evident from the line “I’m the one who hurt you,” which isn’t seen often in the music realm. What started as a topic that her friend gave her for fun turned into a song that illuminates two unique vocal tones of Miranda Rae’s — in fact, her friends couldn’t believe she’d sung the whole song. The follow-up to “remorse” is “ease.” Miranda says it discusses “adult things,” so we’ll leave it at that. “sure” makes its comeback from 2021, but without Najee Janey this time because Miranda wanted the EP to be more “her.” The song’s call-and-response portion had us all singing, “I’m sure of it” and “I want more of it.”
When asked what other song she would bring back if she could, Miranda said she’d revamp Done from her 2019 EP, Excuse My Baggage, and produce it differently. Finally, we get to the last song of the EP – “closure” – which was Miranda Rae’s toughest song to perform because it revolves around the end of her relationship.
After we listened to the entire EP, Dzidzor interviewed Miranda Rae to learn a bit more about the story behind each song and honed in on specific lyrics that spoke to her. After this deeper dive, Miranda made sure to give everyone the flowers they deserved for the roles they played in her EP — and yes, I do mean actual flowers. Some of the people she thanked included her producer Don Beamon, her dad and #1 fan, her pianist Shane Dylan, Eric, who mixed and mastered the project, madeby.rts, who shot her album cover, her videographer Carlos, and all the people who supported her throughout the process of For What It’s Worth. She also gave a special shoutout to Guyclaude and her sister Yung Yana, who added background vocals to most of the songs on the EP.
For What It’s Worth Album Art By madeby.rts
When asked about new music, Miranda Rae said she’d like to release a project titled All My Friends that would feature collabs with her artist friends, including Tamera King, Chris Walton, and Heyssis, maybe even Beyoncé (!), so now may be the time to ask Miranda about working together.
After listening through For What It’s Worth, we learn more about Miranda Rae and her approach to love, and I feel like I was a part of this love story from the beginning to the end of the relationship. Miranda Rae said that For What It’s Worth needs to be heard, and I agree. I’ve had it on repeat since Friday; especially “pieces” and “stoneheart” because I love the melody and message of the former and the lyrics of the latter. The songs on For What It’s Worth are finally out of the vault, so go stream For What It’s Worth anywhere and everywhere you listen to music!
If you want to see Miranda Rae perform songs from For What It’s Worth live and in-person, she has a show at WBUR City Space through Sound On on June 23rd, with CLUB INDGO and Chris Walton, so if you want to be wooed in person and not just through your phone, this is your chance!