Music-News.com is proud to host the exclusive world premiere of "Abused" by Liyah Bey.
From international stages to intimate truths, singer-songwriter Liyah Bey is using her voice to make the world a better place. Shaped by a global upbringing and now based in Los Angeles, her early fascination with musical icons like Prince, Adele, Aretha Franklin, Amy Winehouse, Sia & Lauryn Hill led her to New York City, where her powerhouse voice impressed many generations of artists and catapulted her into an array of career-defining opportunities, from recording with Kool and the Gang, to stepping in for Lauryn Hill in the Fugees. Now a solo artist rooted in the LA music scene, Bey’s poetic, emotionally rich storytelling draws back the curtains of the soul, revealing the bare, essential secrets hidden within. Yet anyone who has witnessed her performances knows it is her extraordinary vocal prowess that truly elevates each song, lifting each emotive lyric into the stratosphere, charging it with deeply human emotions that linger in the body, mind, and heart.
After building an extensive publishing catalog, all while honing a universally resonant sound that blends classic R&B, pop, and blue-eyed soul, Bey is embarking on her most ambitious project yet, guided by the core belief that global and societal change begins with awareness. She hopes to be the spark that ignites a new world—one where people come together to start meaningful dialogue and embrace the unvarnished truths that shape the human experience. For those in need of a steady hand on the shoulder, Bey offers the ultimate support, marking the beginning of a new chapter. In this era, music transcends entertainment to become activism.
Channeling the unapologetically cinematic flourishes of the epic ballad, Bey’s latest single, “Abused,” unfolds a heart-shattering testament many know all too well—the plight of a battered, broken woman with her head in her hands, grappling with her wounds and pleading for someone to pick up the pieces “if she came undone.” For the human family, words are the ultimate vessel of connection—the means by which one soul reaches another—but constant mistreatment constrains them, forcing those who feel violated to battle their torment in isolation. This narrator has been burying her agony for far too long, keeping “a dozen secrets locked behind her ribs,” but this moment feels like her first brave step into the light. “I’ve written hundreds of songs over the years,” says Bey, “but none have ever felt as necessary as this one. ‘Abused’ is for anyone who has carried something silently for far too long.”
Over a soundscape that feels like trekking through the cooled-off ruins of a warzone, she navigates this shadowy labyrinth with a striking balance of precision, honesty, and vulnerability. Shifting between sonorous and thunderous, her voice floats with an angelic softness before soaring skyward, carrying not only the suffocating weight of a life scarred by abuse, but also the quiet, unyielding tenacity of a warrior—those who, like Bey, refuse to be silenced—on a solitary journey toward healing, beginning with the fearless act of calling abuse by its name.
With a testimony as raw and devastating as Bey’s, a visual is barely needed. Still, she stands as the face of countless powerless people unable to come forward themselves, laying bare the trauma of abuse without sparing the gritty details. The accompanying lyric video allows each scathing sentiment to truly sink in, providing listeners a space to step into the narrator’s shoes and imagine the misery of a life lived in the shadows—her harrowing truth dismissed without a second thought. When “fear becomes a language only pain can cut through,” Bey shows that naming the hurt is the first act of power—transforming isolation into resilience and silence into forward motion.
