Ruth B

Ruth Berhe, known simply as Ruth B, started recording six-second snippets of her undiscovered vocal talent on Vine back in 2013. Many of her Vines do not even feature her face, just her tinkling voice covering one or two lines from a popular song or her own work to the melody of her Yamaha keyboard. Her six-second fame exploded one day last December, when she watched an episode of ABC’s Once Upon A Time and recorded two lines and a couple of notes for the app that would very quickly change the trajectory of her life. 

The little video featured Ruth singing: “I am a lost boy from Neverland/ Usually hanging out with Peter Pan.” Simple, sweet and very much her style. The Vine received more than a million loops in a month’s time from her already-large following on the app. The video received so much attention that she quickly had fans all over the world begging her to write a complete song.

“I sometimes say I was harassed into writing it,” Ruth joked to the Edmonton Journal. 

Ruth released “Lost Boy,” the extended version of those two famous lines, in January. The reception was so positive and strong that record labels started finding her name all over social media and took interest. After joining Red Light Management (which also represents stars such as Tiesto and Luke Bryan), Ruth was won over by Columbia Records, signing to the label in July.  

Her long-awaited debut EP is finally here to celebrate the 20-year-old’s talent. The Intro is an acoustic collection of four songs sung to Ruth’s own music. The EP’s second track is “Lost Boy,” an adorable yet melancholy song about friendship and growing up without it. 

The first and third are “2 Poor Kids” and “Golden,” both finalized before Ruth signed to Columbia Records. “2 Poor Kids” serves as a lovely introduction to Ruth’s style of music: bittersweet lyrics over bittersweet music. A song about growing up in a town that revolves around fame and money, it is a love song that warrants a music video in the style of Adele. You can hear her smiling as she sings, “He picks her up in a Benz/ But my lover comes by himself and a dozen roses/ He probably stole ’em.” It’s easily the most calming yet saddening song of the collection.

The third song, “Golden,” is about a young woman’s transformation from weak to powerful after going through struggle in the least cliche way possible. She empowers her listeners with the melodic lyrics of “Burn, burn, burn, they used to yell/ You thought I was coal, my friend, I’m gold. Can’t you tell?/ ’Cause I’m not weak. I’m not broken. I am bold/ And the fire you put me through turned me into gold.” She sings absolute poetry in these lines, creating one beautiful piece of music. 

“Superficial Love” was the only piece Ruth wrote after she signed to Columbia Records. She released bits of it in four pieces on her Vine profile over a few weeks before the song came out on the EP. A quick piece about being someone’s first choice is a wonderful conclusion to the EP, with its simplistic instrumental leaving enough room on the track to fully exhibit Ruth’s soft yet overwhelming voice.

The full EP, designed to be as a raw as possible, was recorded over two days in a Brooklyn studio. Ruth said there is a full studio album and a tour in the works for 2016. This young girl is about to achieve the attention and fame she grew up never desiring, so keep an eye on her as she works her way through this incredible journey from an app to the Big Apple.