Az Yet founder Shawn Rivera goes solo with the single "This Is What You Are"

Shawn Rivera has stepped out on his own. The founding member of Az Yet has released a solo version of "This Is What You Are," and SoulTracks gave it a first-listen writeup.

Az Yet is the reference point most listeners will start from. The group was one of the male vocal acts that defined 1990s R&B radio, best known for "Last Night" and their reading of "Hard to Say I'm Sorry."

The new song comes through a new partnership. Rivera has signed on with The Rebirth Collective, a UK-based music company, and this is the first release from that arrangement. The song itself was originally recorded by the Italian soul and jazz singer Mario Biondi with The High Five Quintet, and while it never took off in the United States, it was a substantial hit across the UK and Europe about 20 years ago.

The two versions do not sit in the same lane. Biondi's is straight-ahead jazz; Rivera's rides a different groove, backed by Dolce Groove, the house band at The Rebirth Collective, who blend smooth jazz and funk. SoulTracks compares his vocal to Eric Benet and notes that he keeps a jazz thread running through it by scatting across the track. The remake has already reached No. 1 on the UK Soulbreakers Chart.

Rivera has worked as a singer, songwriter, vocal arranger and producer over the years, and this chapter leans on the production side of that list. He said working with Dolce Groove on the song produced "something magical," which is the sort of line that usually means a band clicked in a room. New rnb releases with dates attached sit on the release calendar.