Fish in the (Crimson) Sea

On September 16th, Samford track athlete Aaliyah Laetita Mbenda released her first song under the stage name LIYAH. The song, “Fish In the Sea”, was released on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Amazon Music, Soundcloud, and iTunes.

Mbenda is a current junior and studies Psychology, with a minor in French. On top of her studies, she runs both short and long hurdles for the Samford Track and Cross Country team. Originally from Bochum, Germany, LIYAH was offered a track scholarship by Samford, which she quickly fell in love with.

“I really like the community aspect of it, I saw a great program, and I’m very happy to be here,” Mbenda said.

The sports community is what led Mbenda to the opportunity to produce her first few songs. In 2024, Mbenda discovered a shared love for creating music with one of her track teammates, who made his own music. She had songs in her notes app that she hoped to someday release, but she didn’t know how to produce beats. Her track teammate offered to help, and they spent four days working until the wee hours of the morning to create two songs.

Despite their hard work, Mbenda didn’t plan on releasing those songs. In 2026, she felt an urge to release her own music.

“There were always some stones in my way, but I couldn’t let go of it. I fought my way through it and it showed me ‘okay, that’s how bad you actually want it.’”

She reunited with her teammate to create “Fish in the Sea”, which she describes as an “Amy Winehouse-inspired beat”

“It just spoke to me when I heard it,” Mbenda said.

The song follows the story of a romantic interest from six years ago who returns to her life, making her choose between the connection she had with him or the life she’s built without him.

Mbenda encouraged Crimson readers to pursue whatever they feel called towards.

“It’s not going to fall into your lap, and it’s not always going to be easy, it might actually be the hardest thing you do. But if you get going and you really want it, it becomes easy.”

Mbenda expressed her plans to release more music in the future. “I have a bunch of songs in my notes app, so now it’s just more about finding the opportunities… there’s definitely more on the way.”