As a nod to the different emotional and musical phases she navigated to bring the album to life, Moonchild Sanelly’s Phases is a smorgasbord of genres and experiences from an artist who now bills herself as “a global act who so happens to be from South Africa.” There are whimsical tales of love, loss, sexual liberation, and the inevitable emotional metamorphosis that comes as the years have rolled by for the artist.
“One of the many things I’ve been grateful for during lockdown is the ability to sit down and process things,” Moonchild Sanelly tells Apple Music. “I’ve had the time to go through certain experiences and express them in my music. That’s why the album is called Phases. Lockdown allowed me the emotional space to process the different phases I’ve been through and show that in the music.”
The 19-track offering was recorded in the wake of a series of career wins for the “Cute” hitmaker. In 2020, she featured on “With Love to An Ex” by English virtual band Gorillaz and, during the same year, was roped in by Beyoncé on the song “MY POWER” for her Black Is King soundtrack. Here, Moonchild talks us through the emotional journeys that led to her latest album, track by track.
“Undumpable”
“The song isn’t addressed to anyone in particular, even though it sounds like it when you listen to it. I’m speaking from the viewpoint of any woman who invested so much of themselves in a romantic relationship, only for the man to leave. I’m standing up for the wives and for every woman that’s been left thinking, ‘I was with you when you had nothing, holding your hands until you made it—and then you just choose to leave me behind?’”
“Demon” [Moonchild Sanelly & Sad Night Dynamite]
“‘Demon’ is special for so many reasons. It features on FIFA 22’s soundtrack, but I also felt at home when I was making the song. My roots have always been in kwaito, and I was able to tap back into that vibe. The beat didn’t initially sound like that though. What you hear now was a small sample from a longer beat I was given. But I took a certain section of the beat and looped that into what would become ‘Demon.’”
“Cute” [Moonchild Sanelly & Trillary Banks]
“I love what Trillary brought to the song. We tapped into the same energy. I’d initially recorded the song and sent it to my label. But when they sent it back, it had Trillary on it. She literally turned the song into a song! I usually have a lot of hooks and ideas when I’m making an album, and I’ll mostly just play around and see what happens. When she came onto the song, I knew I was done with the record—it felt like she completed it.”
“April Fool’s Day”
“I’m not one of those people who aspire to marriage. That’s the main message of the song. It’s addressed to all the guys who want a wife in the club—the men who want to ‘design a girlfriend’ by meeting someone and changing them. I’ll never be that person. That’s why I say, ‘I want to be proposed to on April Fool’s Day, so when I say no, I can say I was playing.’ Marriage isn’t that deep to me, so I don’t mind making fun of the idea.”
“Strip Club” [Moonchild Sanelly & Ghetts]
“I’ve wanted to work with [South African music producer] Tweezy for the longest time, and it finally happened here. I’d worked with Ghetts before, and I knew he would kill this. I wanted to make a song that celebrates the strip club but also says, ‘When you get there, you pay an entrance fee, you buy your booze, but then you watch the girls for free? No! You need to pay them too.’”
“Let It Rip”
“‘Let It Rip’ is very bass-heavy. I’ve always said I’m not a South African artist—I’m a global artist from South Africa. With this song, in particular, it’s testament to that. The bass, in particular, would appeal to my fans in Austria, Vienna, Europe, and South Africa. I didn’t initially record the song with that beat though. It was recorded to another piece of music. But you know when they say, ‘A dress is made for your body’? That beat was made for the verse that ended up on the song.”
“Over You”
“This is a story about a time I had to leave a relationship because I knew better [than to stay]. This song, in particular, feels like a journal entry. It’s like I made it for my future self to wake me up after a bad relationship. That’s what I do with most of my music: I play my songs to myself to remember who the fuck I am.”
“Money Tree”
“If you want to hang out with me, go to the ATM and give me my money, please. That’s the point of the song. I’m not kissing you until you go to the ATM and go get that money because it’s a transaction. I know you don’t want me, you want my body—you want to flex. And therefore, you don’t need your money, but you’re going to pay for a service because I’m not going to the party without it.”
“Favourite Regret”
“‘You’re my favorite regret, my final reject…my ATM connect.’ That’s how I start the song. It’s about a rich dumb fuck I had a while back. But it’s also a return to my earlier sound—that blend of house and kwaito. I always return to that sound in my albums because that’s essentially who I am. I would suffocate if I didn’t.”
“Too Late”
“I wasn’t even conscious of the fact that I was rapping on this song. It just happened subconsciously. I was tapping into the part of me that used to perform at poetry and hip-hop gigs. I never go into a song thinking, ‘I’m going to rap here.’ The music pointed me toward that direction.”
“ULi” [Moonchild Sanelly & Blxckie]
“I love Blxckie so much. He’d hollered at me a while back for some work on his album, but we couldn’t make it happen at the time. I also see a lot of myself in him. He moved to Johannesburg to chase his dream of being a musician. I also came to Johannesburg with nothing but a sewing machine and R500. We are the same in most regards, so it made sense to work together.”
“Covivi” (feat. Theology HD)
“‘Covivi’ is literally my love letter to COVID. I was talking about how tired I was being cooped up at home, not being able to form connections with other people or even go outside and have a good time. Thankfully, ‘Covivi’ heard my cries.”
”Soyenza” (feat. Sir Trill)
“The song isn’t as sexual as people might think. I’m literally talking about macking in the club. It’s not sexuality-based. In the song, I just see a bunch of beautiful people in the club, and I’m macking on them.”
“Yebo Teacher”
“‘Yebo Teacher’ is deliberately easy to sing along to because I wanted everyone to grasp the message. The point of the song is that the power is in your hands. It’s like how we were told as kids that if you do your homework, you’ll succeed. But here, school isn’t actual school. It’s the school of life. If you invest in yourself, you’ll have a successful life.”
“Chicken”
“The title and song are from a childhood fascination of mine: What came first, the chicken or the egg? Or did the chicken come with an egg? I was just messing around initially, but it turned into an actual song. It’s like an ad break on the album.”
“Jiva Juluka”
“This is one of my favorites on the album. It’s a full-on party song. So, dance, twerk, shake, lose your morals. It’s a fan favorite, and whenever I perform it live, the crowd performs it for me.”
“Bad Bitch Budget”
“It’s definitely a personal record. It’s a song about hustling and the trajectory my life has taken. Whenever I’ve met a man, I’ve always grown with them and then past them. I’m a hustler and that’s the point of the song: If you’re not growing with me, I’ll leave you behind. That’s how it’s always been.”
“Jump”
“I got the beat for ‘Jump’ via Instagram from a production group based in Durban called Tone Fibre. They hit me up, I loved their style, and we worked together.”
“Bird So Bad”
“‘Bird So Bad’ is a song about wanting to escape. I can mention this because she’s my girl: I played the song to [South African artist] Patty Monroe, and she cried when she heard it. She said, ‘I have moments like these [of wanting to escape] even though I’m not suicidal. I wanted to end the album by starting a conversation and saying sometimes it’s OK to want to quieten everything and escape.”