Atua

Atua (: Goddess) is the sophomore by Shenewan-Theykan singer and rapper Keuthe. Released on 22 January, 2022 through 2Legend and Enduro, it features guest appearances by Ersatz, Leto, THAH, eRay, Rosa and Paoe Sha. Executively produced by long-time collaborator and friend Maerise Latero, the concept album is divided in two parts labelled admiration and fear, which Keuthe described being the two greatest elements of being a worldwide celebrity. The album was a commercial and critical success, charting globally and topping the Alvak, Bailanese, Cerveran, Encarnaçian, Kitoko, Shenewan, Theykan and Tilennan charts, and being regarded as one of the best album of 2022 by various publications.

Background and promotion
The production of the album was throughly documented: starting from her VIBES WORLDWIDE tour Keuthe always had a camera following her. The first ideas and initial writing took place during the tour itself, and production started on a cruise ship during a worldwide sail Keuthe and her team were taking part of. After the cruise, the whole team moved to Taikorea (Theyka), in an isolated seaside villa for four months. More than 70 songs were produced at this point. She then moved back to her hometown Muriwai where she continued work on the album. The team then left Theyka again, to visit Alva for three months, where the collaboration with Ersatz would be produced and recorded. After Alva, the team stayed two weeks in Akiteiwa and a further three weeks in Kodeshia. Keuthe explained that these long and frequent moves were necessary to get inspirations for new and unheard of sounds. Ever since the cruise trip, Keuthe would keep her social media activity to a minimum, only posting three times in 2 years. After deciding to embark on another worldwide sail with her team, the "#keuthehunt" hashtag started to increase in popularity: fans worldwide would try to spot her around the world, as she would rarely be seen at home. The album would be completed in September 2021. In the following month, Keuthe's team and Enduro would work on the promotional campaign for the album. To contrast the ultimate absence of information about her in the last two years, the promotional plan would be to overpromote Keuthe and make her as visible as possible. In December 2021, Keuthe started to be aggressively featured in global fashion brand campaigns, advertisements, other artists shows, festivals, TV programs, podcasts, interviews, music videos and other material. Atua was officially announced the 18 December, with the documentary being released on all major global streaming platforms three days later. The day of the release, Keuthe also announced the Atua Festival, a special, free event featuring over 20 artists taking place in a grass field just outside Muriwai. The festival was the biggest free music event in Theykan history, with an estimated 220,000 people in attendance. Atua was released on 22 January, 2022 in, , , (standard cover + three alternative ones) and  formats.

Composition
The album is a significant departure from Keuthe's previous work. Unlike her previous album and mixtapes, Atua was entirely produced by Maerise Latero, with few others partecipating in the production, in contrast to past works which featured a more extensive production and technical team. The album is a progressive pop work, which Keuthe learned to love during her previous tour and especially in East Kesh. The shift from danceable dancehall instrumentals to smoother, slower and layered pop production was a conscious choice, as said in a scene from the documentary "[...] and I'm tired of dumbasses saying I'm no good for anything but making people dance [...]".

The album is split into two parts: The Whakamihi (Admiration) part (tracks 1-8) and the Wehi (Fear) part (tracks 9-16). The first part features more bright, epic and uptempo production, whith a heavy use of classical 80s synths. The lyrics of the first part represent the positive experiences derived from being a worldwide celebrity: feeling admired and loved, the lavish lifestyle, the constant travelling and the feeling of being unbeatable. The second part is in contrast a representation of the struggles Keuthe faced due to her stardom: performance anxiety, impostor syndrome, trouble finding real friends, not being allowed privacy and other issues she references in her lyrics. The production of this second part, while extremely elegant and complex, recalls the negative emotions and thoughts: eerie drones, heavy use of the grand piano and backing voices.

Critical reception
The album with met with widespread critical acclaim from music critics.At Aggregator.org, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 94, based on 41 reviews. This score places Atua as the 17th best album of all time on the website. Various critics appreciated the shift of tone and genre of the album compared to VIBE: "While Keuthe surely is the queen of dancehall and dance music, we were all eager to know if she could do more, and she did, releasing this masterpiece which will surely be regarded as the highest example of what shenewan and theykan musicians can achieve worldwide". Maerise Latero's production would also prove to be appreciated: "With the burden of having to produce one of the most anticipated albums of the last 2 years, Latero managed to deliver awe and wonder to listeners, with an incredibly complex and deep productions which one would attribute to a supergroup of productors working in the most advanced studio on the planet, rather than a 28 year old girl working on a cruise ship with her laptop".

Commercial performance
Atua was the most internationally successfull shenewan and theykan album of 2022, debuting at number 1 in Alva, Baileneu Ma, Cervera, Encarnação, Kitoko, Shenewa, Theyka and Tilenno. In Theyka, Atua moved 62,019 units in it's first week, gaining the record for biggest first week for an album in the 21st century, also being certified platinum in it's first week, the 11th album to do so since 1979. The album topped the Theykan charts for 6 weeks in a row in it's debut run, but also topped the charts in 16 other non-consecutive weeks throughout 2022 and 2023, gaining the record for the Theykan album with the most non-consecutive weeks at number 1. In Shenewa, the album moved 16,103 units in it's first week, the biggest opening week since 2005. It was the first shenewan and theykan album to debut at number one in Alva, and the second to do so in Kitoko (after her previous album VIBE).

The most successfull track of the album is 'Secreto', in which Keuthe admitted to be lesbian and currently in a relationship with fellow singer Rosa, who's also featured in the track. The song became a global anthem for the LGBTQ+ community, helping it's commercial success.

Vocals
• Keuthe (Vocals)

• Leto (Featured Vocals)

• Rosa (Featured Vocals)

• Paoe Sha (Featured Vocals)

• Ersatz (Featured Vocals)

• eRay (Featured Vocals)

• THAH (Featured Vocals)

• Muriwai Haka Chorus (Additional Vocals)

Production
• Maerise Latero

• UNN Mollq

• Keuthe

• eRay

Technical
• Maerise Latero (Mixing, Mastering, Engineering)

• Keuthe (Mixing)