Exclusive premiere: Stacy Barthe’s introspective ‘Here I Am’

Stacy Barthe’s debut album, “BEcoming” is as raw and honest as it gets.

Songs that touch frankly on suicidal thoughts, body-image issues, rejection and depression pack the recently released album.

Executive produced by Barthe and Frank Ocean collaborator Malay, along with John Legend and Eddie Blackmon, “BEcoming” moves across self-reflection, inspiration and the quest for acceptance and self-love with lush melodies and complex songwriting that’s a refreshing alternative from the R&B that’s dominating airwaves.

“This is my truth. I’m not coming from a place of overcoming,” Barthe confessed over a lunch interview for a Times feature.

“I’m still dealing [with] not being completely OK with myself. So I’m talking about it on a human condition,” Barthe continued. “The reality is, people are hurting, and I’m the voice of the broken, which is every single human being on the planet.”

Barthe has been rolling out visuals in support of the album, and The Times is premiering the video “Here I Am.”

Directed by Ryan J. Francis, the black-and-white visual weaves together clips of Barthe singing a live acoustic take of the introspective number while dealing with her struggles with alcoholism, an issue about which she’s been vocal.

“Only time she having fun is when she’s getting drunk / praying for the light, sun don’t ever come / If that’s life, is that worth living / Cause last night, I swore it was the last time,” she sings.

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