Kenyan alt-R&B star Maya Amolo has released a new single titled ‘Sweetest Time’ featuring Ywaya Tajiri.
‘Sweetest Time’ – her first release of 2025 – is a lush and seductive Afro-R&B offering that captures the heady rush of infatuation at its most exhilarating. The track is available on all streaming platforms.
In a world where modern love often plays out through blurred lines and missed signals, Maya cuts through the noise with a single that’s both intimate and expansive.
On this track, she pairs up with fellow Kenyan artist Ywaya Tajiri, whose dreamy vocals melt seamlessly into hers, creating a duet that feels like slow dancing under city lights.
Produced by Maya’s longtime collaborator La Soulchyld, ‘Sweetest Time’ is soaked in warmth and sensuality, all wrapped in Maya’s signature soft harmonies and emotionally rich delivery.
“‘Sweetest Time’ is about the tension and beauty of a connection that’s new, uncertain, but completely intoxicating,” Maya says. “It’s that moment when time stands still and nothing else matters.”
With roots in Nairobi and a sound that echoes across continents, Maya has steadily carved out her place in the global alt-R&B scene with her sugary vocals and soft harmonies.
Her debut EP Leave Me at The Pregame (2020) was a tender exploration of self-worth and healing, while her first full-length album Asali (2022) solidified her as one of the most exciting voices in East African music.
She’s earned recognition from platforms like NPR, The Native Mag, OkayAfrica, and Harmattan Rain, and was selected as Spotify Africa’s first-ever Fresh Finds artist in 2022.
In 2023, Maya was chosen to participate in Spotify and COLORSxSTUDIOS’ debut African writing camp, Tantalizers Sessions – a sign of the industry’s growing interest in her artistry. Later that year, Apple Music named her East Africa’s Up Next artist, putting her in the spotlight as a voice of her generation.
Now, with ‘Sweetest Time’, Maya enters a new era – one that embraces vulnerability, sensuality, and the full spectrum of feeling. It’s a sonic love letter for those caught up in the thrill of the unknown.
A singer-songwriter and producer whose music explores life’s intricacies through the lens of alternative R&B with afro-pop sensibilities, Maya has amassed a loyal global listenership and the homegrown support of East Africa’s creative community.
Her debut project, Leave Me at The Pregame, was released in 2020 and took listeners through a journey of self-acceptance and healing. In 2022, Maya released her debut album Asali, on which she explores themes of infatuation, love, and the non-linearity of the two.
