The house lights rose, and people began to shuffle and mill about the venue, as so often happens at the end of a concert. Some lingered, still basking in the afterglow of the show. Just ten minutes earlier, Mereba, the Ethiopian soul singer from Alabama known for her work with 9th Wonder, JID, and 6lack, had graced the stage, bouncing along to her song “Black Truck” from her debut album The Jungle Is the Only Way Out.
As she walked off, thanking Houston, the crowd erupted in chants of “One more song!” and “Encore!” Her drummer and keyboardist played her out slowly, but the lights stayed on and the crowd began to drift toward the doors.
Then suddenly, the drummer ran back on stage, arms lifted in the air. The chants reignited, this time louder, as more of the audience rushed back into the hall at the Heights Theater for the conclusion of the Breeze Grew a Fire Tour.
Mereba, the Ethiopian soul singer raised in Pennsylvania and rooted in Alabama, has built a genre-fluid catalog that blends folk, R&B, hip-hop, and ancestral tradition. After studying English and music at Spelman College, she released her debut album The Jungle Is the Only Way Out in 2019, a project that showcased her songwriting depth and production skill, with features from 6lack and JID and standout tracks like “Black Truck” and “Planet U.”
Her reputation grew through emotionally raw performances, including a stripped-back NPR Tiny Desk set and a spellbinding COLORS session of “Stay Tru.” In 2025, Mereba returned with her second full-length album, The Breeze Grew a Fire, a warm, introspective collection shaped by motherhood, community, and transformation. Songs like “Counterfeit,” “Phone Me,” and “Starlight (My Baby)” expanded her sonic palette while holding true to the soulful vulnerability at the core of her work.
The accompanying Breeze Grew a Fire Tour, which made a stop at Houston’s Heights Theater, marked a new chapter in her evolution, blending sparse live arrangements with poetic storytelling that felt both grounded and transcendent.
And Mereba is a storyteller, walking the audience through the process of song creation as she moves from piece to piece.
“This next song is near and dear to my heart,” she said while strumming through the opening chords of Lauryn Hill’s “Zion.” “I wrote this song for my son… something that would make his journey easier. I can’t live his life but at least I can give him something that he might think is cool when he’s a teenager.”
As she finished the “Zion” riff, the spotlights shown down on her and she broke out into “Starlight (My Baby).”
Her banter wasn’t all serious, and on Friday night she quickly developed a rapport with the audience from the moment she stepped on stage.
Mereba touched down at the Heights Theater Friday night.
Photo by Vincent Haycock
“I wrote this song when I graduated from college. I finally finished at last. I heard about this adulthood thing that I had been dodging and fi—what did you say?” she asked, abruptly cutting off her own story to address someone in the crowd. “Let me not be nosey… but know I can hear you,” she laughed, joining in with the audience as they cracked up.
That combination of storytelling and music carried the night at the Heights Theater as Mereba guided the audience through songs from her debut album, her collaborative work with Spillage Village, and her latest project, The Breeze Grew a Fire. Songs like “Heatwave,” where she delivered the line “Told my daddy I’m gonna shine like the northern star” with quiet defiance, pulled the room into a moment of reflection.
“Counterfeit” brought a simmering intensity, its smoky rhythm and lyrics revealing more about the changes Mereba has faced in herself and in others. “Phone Me” felt like a late-night check-in with old friends, full of warmth and conversational ease, grounded by the intimacy she described when introducing it. These moments, layered with memory and melody, turned the show into something more than a concert.
Mereba’s performance at the Heights Theater was a balance of musicality and emotion. She moved with ease between carefully arranged songs and loose, candid moments of reflection, allowing stillness to carry just as much weight as sound. Each track felt like part of an ongoing conversation, plucked from a journal and shared with the room. Rather than follow a formula, Mereba created an atmosphere that felt thoughtful, fluid, and completely her own.
Setlist
White Doves
Ever Needed
Rider
Counterfeit
Planet U
Ride For U
Out of the Blue
Starlight (My Baby)
Get Free (spoken word lyric verse)
PsalmSing (Spillage Village)
Heatwave
Kinfolk
Stay Tru
Phone Me
Love Is Stronger Than Pride (Sade Cover)
Beretta
Heart of a Child
Sandstorm
Black Truck (encore)