Ibeyi are the French-Cuban twin sisters Lisa-Kaindé Díaz and Naomi Díaz, born in Paris in 1994 and raised between France and Cuba. Their father was the celebrated Cuban percussionist Miguel ‘Anga’ Díaz, a member of the Buena Vista Social Club ensemble, and the duo’s name is the Yoruba word for twins, a nod to the Afro-Cuban Santería traditions that run through their music.
Their sound is a meeting point of ancestral and modern: Yoruba chants and prayers, Naomi’s cajón and batá drums, Lisa’s piano and close, often eerie harmonies, all set against spare electronic production with a hip-hop sensibility. They sing in both English and Yoruba, and the combination feels less like fusion than like two worlds that were always meant to talk to each other.
Their self-titled debut, released on XL Recordings in 2015 and produced by the label’s boss Richard Russell, opened with ‘River’ as its calling card. The album was shaped by loss as well as heritage: ‘Yanira’ is named for their older sister, who died in 2013, and the record carries an undertow of grief beneath its rhythmic pull.
The following year they appeared in Beyoncé’s visual album Lemonade, a measure of how quickly their reputation had travelled. Ash (2017) brought in guests including saxophonist Kamasi Washington and Meshell Ndegeocello and turned more directly political, while Spell 31 (2022) continued to fold ritual and protest into pop. Through it all, the sisters’ contrasting temperaments, Lisa the more contemplative, Naomi the more fiery, remain the engine of the music.
