Amaarae has given fans a tutorial on how to say her name since she's gotten all types of iterations of it.
During a sitdown with Complex, the 28-year-old broke her name down for anyone that's been struggling with the pronunciation. According to Amaarae, her name is not that hard to pronounce and explained how to properly say it despite hearing people "butcher" it and confusing her with other people such as Amerie.
"I think my name is really easy to pronounce, but a lot of people actually mess my name up," she said. "I get Amerie all the time. People actually mistake me for Amerie and be like, 'Oh are y'all talking about Amerie?' I get 'Amarae.' People butcher my name like crazy. But guys just to confirm the way to pronounce my name is 'Ah-muh-ray.' Simple, sweet, short."
The New York native, whose real name is Ama Serwah Genfi, also told Complex how she got her stage name. The Fountain Baby singer said she wanted to have a nickname for herself and was inspired by Corinne Bailey Ray to come up with one.
"In Facebook in 2009 or 2010, everyone used to make these names," she said. "They'd have their real name, and then they would have a made-up middle name or a nickname and then their last name. So I really wanted to make one, and I was thinking for days. I really like Corinne Bailey Rae, and I really love the name Rae.
"So I was like, okay, I'm going to make mine Ama Rae, and then Genfi, my last name. When I started rapping the next year, I used to drop freestyles and mixtapes on my Facebook. Because my name was Ama Rae, that's how everyone addressed me. Amaarae, that's just how it stuck."
Amaarae dropped her second studio album Fountain Baby earlier this month. Check it out below.
