Released today, April 25, “Hope – The Sequel”, the follow-up to the acclaimed “Hope” is more than a song. It’s a prayer, a gospel-rooted anthem for the weary soul that amplifies its message with the powerful voices of Erica Campbell, one half of the 4x Grammy-winning duo Mary Mary, now revered soloist, and D Smoke, 2x Grammy nominee and winner of Netflix’s Rhythm + Flow season one— two artists who, like ALYA, walk the talk regarding charity and purpose.
“I pray so much I built a callous on my knees,” D Smoke sings and raps, offering a vivid prayer as ALYA’s light voice and Erica’s resonant vocals follow, assuring: “I’ll be your hope. I’ll be your dreams.”
The song begins with ache-tinged harmonies but rises, quite literally, with a key change that mirrors its message: hope coupled with fierce but tender love is needed to lift others in accord.
For ALYA, hope isn’t an abstract ideal — it’s a force rooted in experience. She wrote the first version of Hope in a time of personal darkness. In just 30 minutes, alongside her longtime collaborator Tim Carmon, she poured out a melody that’s both memorably simple and endlessly profound. The therapeutic process resulted in a song that can live anywhere — from playlists to pulpits to movie soundtracks.
“It’s one of those songs,” ALYA tells me. “Like We Are the World. It’s way bigger than a song now.”
That truth has borne out in the song’s journey. As a song meant to cut through the air of despair, the song offers a counter to a defeatist mindset, instead emphasizing carrying one another’s burdens. Together, their soulful melodies champion a spiritually grounded hope. One that preserves dignity, lives, and helps shape a better world.
Since the original release, nearly 11,000 people on TikTok have used the sound across ages, backgrounds, and countries. They tag ALYA directly on their videos demonstrating small acts of kindness, hopeful messages, their faith systems, family tributes, and conversations with their circles about how they can solve problems.
The impact goes far beyond the digital, also since 100% of the proceeds from Hope – The Sequel go to UNICEF USA, supporting extremely vulnerable children worldwide — a cause close to ALYA’s heart. During her travels to Kenya, she was moved by the rich spirit of the youth living in impoverished communities. In response, she has sponsored 10 children up through high school — a gesture that continues to bear fruit, detailed in the letters they send updating her on their dreams.
Her collaboration with D Smoke wasn’t always the plan. Originally envisioned as a ballad, Tim suggested expanding the sequel’s arrangement to include spoken word. “I didn’t see it at first,” ALYA admits. “But when I heard how much it added to the deepness of the track… it just blew me away.”
The song swells — vocals intertwine like warm winds. A gospel choir enters with a full and grounding energy. A tambourine shakes in time with clapping hands. The strings progress in a magical and cinematic manner. The final piano chord holds, lingering like relief after prayer.
But the project isn’t stopping there. Hope – The Sequel is only the beginning. ALYA is gearing up to release Letters to God, an EP that invites 18 artists from all over the world — Japan, Brazil, South Korea, Norway, and beyond — to remix Hope in their languages and styles.
“We didn’t have any added instructions,” ALYA says. “We just said, here’s the original track, and you are absolutely free to do whatever represents the message that you want to put there. And so far…I’m really loving this project more and more every day.”
ALYA, born and raised in Russia, will include a Russian-language version, and the genres span Gospel, Hip-Hop, J-pop, Jazz, Opera, and more. The result? A global prayer stitched together through creativity, culture, and a shared effort to lift each other higher.
For ALYA, this is only the beginning. She’s planning live performances, new charitable partnerships, and more global outreach, all while preparing a new album. After months cocooned in the studio, she’s ready to come out and fly.
“Hope – The Sequel” is a kind of wingspan. One that wraps itself around despair and gently proclaims — don’t just survive, soar.
“We live in challenging times,” ALYA says. “We need this moment of universal consciousness.”
Follow ALYA on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok to stay up to date with official videos, livestreams, and behind-the-scenes videos of the recording process. Listen here to “Hope – The Sequel”!
