Nailah Carrie Turns Self-Doubt Into Something Beautiful on “Why Do You Stay”

There’s a specific kind of vulnerability most artists avoid. Not heartbreak. Not anger. Not even longing. The quieter, uglier fear that maybe you’re the difficult one. The one who doesn’t deserve the love you’re getting. Nailah Carrie runs straight into that discomfort on “Why Do You Stay,” and the result is one of the most emotionally disarming alt-R&B releases to come out of New York’s independent scene in a minute.

Raised in Yonkers and sharpened by a background in poetry and literary arts, Nailah doesn’t write songs so much as she confesses them. Her theatrical roots show up in the pacing. Every line feels intentional, like a scene unfolding instead of a hook being chased. The production, handled by Nailah alongside Ashton Adams, gives her voice room to breathe. Warm keys, restrained percussion, and subtle harmonic layers let the tension live in the lyrics instead of burying it in gloss.

At its core, “Why Do You Stay” is about self-interrogation. The song circles a painful question: why would someone stay with you when you’re convinced you’re unlovable? Nailah doesn’t glamorize insecurity or wrap it in easy empowerment slogans. She sits inside it. The writing captures the mental spiral of comparing your flaws to your partner’s patience, realizing you wouldn’t offer the same grace if the roles were reversed. It’s brutally honest without feeling self-pitying. That balance is hard to pull off, and she nails it.

What makes the track hit harder is its timeline. Written in 2019, released in 2024, and now paired with a music video premiering February 6, the song carries the weight of years lived between creation and execution. That delay adds meaning. It turns the release into proof of her own message: art doesn’t expire. If anything, the distance deepens the performance. You can hear growth layered over the original wound.

Nailah’s vocal delivery is the anchor. There’s a neo-soul softness in her tone, but she uses restraint like a weapon. Instead of belting for drama, she leans into intimacy, pulling the listener into the room with her. It feels less like a performance and more like reading someone’s journal out loud and realizing it mirrors your own thoughts.

For anyone who’s ever stayed in their head too long, convinced they’re the weakest link in their own relationship, “Why Do You Stay” lands like a quiet hand on the shoulder. Nailah Carrie isn’t trying to be the loudest voice in alternative pop right now. She’s trying to be the most honest. And in a landscape full of overproduced emotional shortcuts, that honesty cuts deeper than any chorus ever could.

You’ve said “Why Do You Stay” came from one of the lowest points in your life. Looking back now, do you feel like the song still represents who you were then, or has its meaning shifted as you’ve grown?

I wrote “Why Do You Stay” 7 years ago while studying abroad in London, so the song is very much a time capsule that captures that particular moment in my life. For me, it does represent who I was during that time and the feelings I was wrestling with. I also think that now, so many years later, my relationship to the song has shifted. At the time, writing “Why Do You Stay” was a form of catharsis, and I’m grateful that I had my songwriting to help me process everything that I was going through so that I could move forward. Currently, I’m in a much better place emotionally, and I can appreciate the song in a different way. I’m extremely proud of the production (which I worked on with Ashton Adams and Bryan “BC” Cockett), and I’m proud of the songwriting. As I’ve gotten older, “Why Do You Stay” has taken on a new meaning in the sense that it marks a point of growth for me as an artist. It makes me grateful that I went through that low point, because if I hadn’t gone through that, I wouldn’t have gotten this song out of it. 

Your background in poetry and literary arts is all over your songwriting. When you’re writing a track like this, are you thinking more like a musician or a poet first, and where do those instincts ever clash?

I like to say that I have a “poet brain” and a “songwriter brain”, so when I’m writing a track like “Why Do You Stay,” I’ve definitely got my “songwriter brain” switched on. Even though I used to see my music and my poetry as completely separate entities, I now know that subconsciously they’ve always informed each other. For me, it’s never been an issue of clashing instincts and, if anything, I’m finding that the more intentional I am about creating synergy between my poetry and my songwriting, the stronger my artistic vision becomes. 

The song sat unreleased for years before reaching streaming, and now a video. What did you have to unlearn about timing, perfection, or fear in order to finally let it go?

I had to unlearn a lot in order to get “Why Do You Stay” out into the world. When I first started pursuing music as a career, I thought that I had to wait to be “discovered” before I could put out original work. I thought that I needed permission to do what I wanted to do. I was also afraid of being seen “trying” to be an artist without that external stamp of approval. My parents, who are my biggest supporters, recommended that I read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. That book helped give me the courage to release music (and music videos) as an independent artist. 

A lot of artists write about blaming partners or chasing love. You flipped the lens inward and questioned yourself instead. Was it scary to make a song that honest, knowing listeners might see their own insecurities in it?

It wasn’t scary at all to write the song initially, because I didn’t think it was going to see the light of day. I wrote “Why Do You Stay” before I had even considered pursuing a professional music career. Once I was on that path and decided that I wanted to release “Why Do You Stay”, I did start to get a little nervous knowing that other people, especially people I knew in real life, were going to hear it. But eventually, I got over that because my desire to express myself overpowered any hesitation that I had about being so publicly vulnerable. 

You talk about wanting people to feel less alone when they hear this. Has anyone shared a reaction to the song that surprised you or confirmed you hit the emotional nerve you were aiming for?

Tone Shift Collective hosts a great monthly listening party and artist mixer in Brooklyn, and I presented “Why Do You Stay” at one of their events a few months ago. After all the artists had presented, a young woman came up to me and told me that she felt like the song was about her life and that she felt really seen by its vulnerability. That confirmed for me that the song was having its intended impact. There’s also something beautiful about the fact that I felt alone when I wrote “Why Do You Stay,” and it’s brought me such a sense of community since then.