People have created music since the Prehistoric era, when its purpose was to communicate expression. Although music has evolved and adapted with the times, the collections of harmonies and rhythms combine to create a melodic masterpiece.

That is exactly what 20-year-old Canadian artist, Ruth B, did with her newly released, Extended Play album on Nov. 27, 2015. The EP is 16 minutes and 27 seconds of sheer genius.

She is considered to be multi-talented for her ability to write all of her own original material and execute the sound of them.

Ruth B’s, short for Berhe, fame began with a six-second long Vine. She got her inspiration from the TV series “Once Upon a Time” for the lyrics that tell a story about Peter Pan.

The song titled “Lost Boy” was uploaded to YouTube only two months ago by Vevo and has already achieved over 544,000 views. An unofficial lyric video of the song, uploaded 11 months ago, has received almost twice that amount.

Since the unofficial video and her Vine had been uploaded to YouTube, record labels took interest in the new star. Four months later, in July, she was signed with Columbia Records.

The lyrics to “Lost Boy” begin with a feeling that almost makes the listener feel hollow inside, as “There was a time when I was alone, Nowhere to go and no place to call home, My only friend was the man in the moon, And even sometimes he would go away, too.” would suggest.

As the song progresses, the tempo’s pace picks up. Ruth’s voice, along with the song’s chords, creates a soothing melody.

The story tells of a “lost” boy who has struggled with his family. But the song mainly focuses on his triumph of finally discovering a permanent home and the faith of a friend.

Ruth credits Lauryn Hill, The Beatles, Carole King, Grouplove, Adele, Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran as some of her musical inspirations. In fact, her song “Superficial Love” is reminiscent of the strong, flowing voice of Adele.
“And if you wanna keep me, then you better treat me, Like a damn princess, make that an Empress, ‘Cause I’m so done, not being your number one”.

These lyrics empower anyone in a relationship that seems fake, to do something about it.

The EP’s other songs, “Golden” and “2 Poor Kids” are just as powerful to listeners as they were to her. The motivation for her songs doesn’t stop at popular TV series, but also stems from personal thoughts, feelings and conclusions she has gathered from relationships in her own life.

The EP, as a whole, is very meaningful. In fact, during an interview conducted by andPOP, she described her music as honest, relatable and real. To me, that’s a fair assessment.

I rated the EP as a four and a half out of five total stars. Points were docked for having too many repeating choruses. Personally, I like to hear songs that focus on well-structured verses, rather than easy repetition. But if that isn’t something you particularly mind, then I’d highly recommend listening to the EP (I’d highly recommend it anyway).

Today, most songs consist of either drugs, alcohol, Justin Bieber or a combination of all three. However, there are several artists that tend to sway from that dark path. Ruth B is definitely one of those artists with her own path. To me, it seems that it’s an extremely successful one.