After a brief hiatus due to the passing of her mother, Iyla released her first full length album WEEPING ANGEL, delivering a long awaited return to the limelight. The record comes with a notable shift away from her successful rap-adjacent style to a more soulful, melodic and sometimes angelic delivery. The sold-out DC9 venue filled up rapidly, with fans scrambling to find a decent angle to experience the comeback show.
Even before Abby Jasmine, the opener, took to the stage on March 23, the crowd was fully engaged with the ambient music being played. Songs like Paint The Town Red by Doja Cat or Mamushi by Megan Thee Stallion were met with shrieks of joy, with a majority of the crowd singing and dancing along while they waited.
The unwavering engagement continued once Abby Jasmine took to the stage, with live positive feedback being thrown out in the middle of songs. Comments like “She’s heavy on the autotune, but in a tasteful kind of way” were not uncommon throughout her performance. Abby’s spoken word story telling was met with so much vocalized approval and it’s as if she could do no wrong. Comedians often talk about favorable rooms, where any joke is guaranteed to get a laugh and that’s what DC9 felt like. Tracks like “WEIRD” and “Relax” displayed her witty delivery to its full potential, and the crowd ate up every second of it. Despite it being such a short set, the back and forth between her and the audience was a lovely reminder of how much more interactive a small venue can be.
Watch Abby Jasmine perform for Live on the Red Couch via YouTube:
With a relatively quick turnaround, electric candles were lit, two angel statues were uncovered, and along came Iyla dressed in red lace and chunky black boots. Once she approached her sparkling mic, she slowly removed her veil to perform a newer track “Corset.” Her ethereal melodies sprinkled throughout the song hit everyone with what looked like a wave of shock. Good shock. If you listen to the recorded versions of her new album, those ethereal, angelic melodies do exist but are so significantly muted and modified that I was under the impression that it was a sample from an age-old classical song. Seeing it performed live and watching people’s jaw drop as she held these absolutely breathtaking prolonged high notes made me wish there was a live album in the works. I highly recommend listening to the “Corset” live recording she did with On The Radar Radio and compare that to her album version of the track. That slight increase in punch we get from her unedited vocals is so powerful and thematically correct that you get the sense that these songs were meant to be heard the way she sings them live.
Watch Iyla perform “Corset” live for On the Radar Radio via YouTube:
During the song “Strut,” Iyla pulled out one of those miniature treadmills everyone seemed to have invested heavily into during covid and began lightly voguing. What could have easily been a silly moment ended up adding so much flair to the whole performance. Outside of the second half of the song, the treadmill was never used again and yet it sticks in my head as one of the defining moments of the whole show. Rather than just stand there to become the third statue on stage, she chose to do something fun and exciting while her producer’s beat did the talking.
As the show wound down, she began thanking everyone for sticking with her while she processed a dark time. Saying we were the angels surrounding her on the aptly named The Angel Tour. Between the awws and cheers of endearment, you couldn’t help but notice a murmur in the crowd. “No Strings?” “She’s not playing Strings?” “Where’s Strings?” Like a true performer, she turns to her producer with a raised eyebrow and says “I think we forgot a song…” Her orchestrated tease led to the loudest pop of the night the moment everyone recognized the beat from her biggest track “Strings” began to play. At this point, nearly everyone was recording Iyla’s final moments during her first show in DC in 6 years. At some point the audience was informed that DC was her first sold out show way back in 2020. This time, when the show was actually over, Iyla gave a quick heartfelt message and escaped to her dressing room.
The intimacy of the show carried over to the post show meet and greet, where Iyla on several occasions remembered people she had met once, six years ago at Union Stage. It wasn’t like the fans were coming on stage and immediately asking if she remembered them, she was just out of the blue remarking about something she remembered about them from six years ago. For an artist with a relatively large social media following, especially considering the venue we were in, it was evidence that she really does pay attention and cares for her fans.
In an era flooded with negative press about how an artist interacts with their fans, Iyla’s genuine warmth was refreshing. There was a moment when a fan showed her something and Iyla was so overcome with glee that she hugged them and immediately apologized for embracing them without asking. Talented, respectful, and puts on a good show… What more could you want from an artist?
Here are some photos of Iyla performing live at DC9 on March 23, 2026. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Roman Meerzaman.
Here are some photos of Abby Jasmine performing live at DC9 on March 23, 2026. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Roman Meerzaman.
