In the process, she met Mark Ronson, who helped produce Dawn, and worked with him on his 2019 album Late Night Feelings.

She said, "I made sure I did two-and-a-half years of self-homework, of digesting a trauma before I could make a commitment to an entire company."

As for Ronson, he admits "There was a time where of course we would have loved to sign her to our label Zelig Records (a sub-label to Columbia), but she had different ideas."

Aswad went on to say that an "obsession with D'Angelo's 2000 classic Voodoo led Yebba and Ronson to enlist several of that album's musicians" for Dawn, including the Roots drummer Questlove, bassist Pino Palladino and keyboardist James Poyser.

Aswad also felt that the "album's diversity is reflected in its collaborators", naming the rappers A$AP Rocky and Smino, electronic musician Kaytranada, and Beck's guitarist Smokey Hormel as examples.