Territory: Europe
Mikhaela Faye is, in many ways, an artist made for the post-genre world
The South African singer, songwriter and producer creates music that draws on the rigor of a Jazz degree but that is also informed by the punk, R&B and hip hop of the noughties that soundtracked her teenage years. Her later exploration into dream pop electronica mixed with her sensual, R&B-styled vocal contributes to a number of heavy-hitting house and hip hop collaborations most notably with industry heavyweights PHfat and Shimza.
In many artists, this unbounded musical playground might risk teetering into a sonic mess, but her recent solo work reveals that Mikhaela Faye’s versatility may be her secret weapon.
Her latest single, “I Don’t Want Your Baby” is an instantly addictive alt-pop bop, offering a fresh pick-me-up for listeners in its tongue-in-cheek telling of the push and pull of motherhood in our current dystopia. It follows her earlier 2021 single, “Love on Repeat”, a synth-pop ballad dripping in 80s nostalgia which charted on the KFM Top 40 as well as reaching no.1 on the Goodhope FM SA charts. Her alt-R&B single “Breathe Into My Blue” captures a whispered and enthralling vulnerability speaking to the importance of intimacy and consent within partnerships whilst her afro-house collaboration with Shimza was highlighted in Billboard for its poignant lyrics addressing climate change.
Faye is currently producing and writing her second body of work which promises to be as sonically explorative and disarmingly honest as her debut EP, ‘Not. Now. Later’.
