Tkay MaidzaTakudzwa "Tkay" Maidza is back. And the rapper, singer and pop icon is flexing her creative skills, and sass, with a new EP, Last Year Was Weird Vol. 1 - her first solo music since 2016's bumper album TKAY.
At 21, Maidza has achieved much, gaining global exposure. Even before her debut, she guested on Troye Sivan's US #5 mini-album Wild. She was nominated for BET's 'Best New Interactional Act' award. Last year, Maidza's song Glorious was synced for Girls. Plus she's performed extensively, notably hitting 2017's Governors Ball in New York. "It's been definitely life-changing, of course," the outgoing Maidza says of her success. "It's more eye-opening. I think I've had a lot of great things happen and then I've had a lot of things that I didn't expect - or I feel like could have been better - and just a lot of experiences. At the end of the day, you're just like, 'Wow, there's a lot of things that can happen.' So I don't know - it's great, it's magical!" She laughs.
Born in Zimbabwe, Maidza arrived in Australia at five. Her parents' scientific expertise (Maidza's father is a metallurgist and mother an industrial chemist) was in-demand amid the mining surge. Settling in Adelaide, Maidza threw herself into sport - and, by way of youth programs, music. She briefly attended uni to study architecture.
Developing an individualistic mode of electronic hip hop, Maidza aired the "bratty" Brontosaurus - eventually striking a deal with Universal Music. Following 2014's buzz EP Switch Tape, she dropped TKAY - with prestigious input from Run The Jewels' Killer Mike and producers Salva, Dre Skull and Christoph Andersson. However, after this accelerated rise, Maidza took time out to reassess her career. Young artists are often inundated with others' opinions - and Maidza was no different. "I just felt like my project didn't completely feel like mine anymore," she shares. "I wasn't centred. So I just had to refocus and be like, 'What's the whole point of my existence?' and find that. So I wasn't at square one, but I felt like I had to mentally go back to the start and be like, 'Okay, who am I? What do I want?' kind of thing. And then, once I start to think about that, it makes it a lot easier for everyone else to accommodate me." Indeed, Australia's Queen of Hip Hop needed space. Maidza claimed a layover year, ostensibly to concentrate on fitness. In fact, she composed material independently.
The lead single from Last Year Was Weird Vol. 1 - which Maidza hints is the beginning of a trilogy - is the trap banger Flexin'. It catches Maidza at her most assertive yet still radiates charm. "That one was, I felt like, the old me, but also mixing in the new me." She is joined on Flexin' by emerging Cali rapper DUCKWRTH, who matches her fire wordplay. They tracked Flexin' during his Australian tour in May. "He's very meticulous with detail and he works really fast. He's also really comprehensive - like he'll really take in the whole meaning of something and then find his own way to contribute to it. He's just very intelligent."
The EP emphasises both Maidza's range and creative ambition - opening with the Alison Wonderland-influenced reggae bop Big Things (featuring Dad on bass!). "I feel like now I'm just more attracted to music that sounds, I guess, timeless. I wanna have real drums or an element of something that sounds like it could exist at any time. I was listening to a lot of music from the '90s, a lot of neo-soul, R&B, but also hip hop. Generally, the best hip hop songs, they are what they are because their production is so good. So I just tried to learn more about what makes really good records and I've tried to implement it into my music to make myself better."
Next, Maidza will present a fresh show on headlining and festival dates. "We want to make it a lot bigger. I think, 'cause I'm such a visual person, we're gonna add a lot of new stuff. These first shows are obviously club shows but, when we go to the bigger venues, I definitely wanna bring a lot more to the shows visually and add a lot more people in the band and all of that stuff. I'm excited."
