Moonchild Sanelly

I think the biggest part of it is, my mum always reminded me to just own my body, whatever environment I was in. It was always instilled just being myself, and I was always allowed to express that. I think the core of it all is being violated in non-revealing clothes. I was like, You know what? Screw this. I'm going to create a world where I can just be myself and not be violated while I am in power. And that's why I think I always shout out to my uncle for sexually harassing me, for me to run away from home because I thought I was going to name and shame him, and after having done that with a huge publication, it didn't feel satisfactory.
Then it made me understand my actual purpose and what it is that I stand for, which is, firstly myself and the rest that don't have a voice. [Before] that experience, I already owned my body and spoke about sexuality, but to just own the narrative and also be creating my world where I'm safe enough, instead of crying, just working hard, knowing that it was bigger than that, and therefore I always be like, Thank you for being an animal in that moment, because it led me to my actual purpose.

Yes, I did teach myself from when I was in fashion school in Durban, that's when I started getting into my Moonchild, as in my performance name, from the poetry circles into the hip hop and all the genres. Being exposed to those, I always felt like I wanted to create. This [was] literally in 2006 feeling like I wanted to create something that didn't feel safe, tried and tested, something that didn't necessarily have a face. And I wanted everyone, when they hear me, they hear Moonchild Sanelly, and when they hear anything else, they hear something that sounds like Moonchild Sanelly. But I never wanted the reference, even though I respect whoever was in my upbringing and whatever I experienced in their legendary status. I think the same people that brought me up, still accepted me when I got my time to shine.
I just wanted my own thing. I wanted your reference to be Moonchild Sanelly. So, it's something I've definitely been conscious of. Like, when I was creating my sound, I had no exposure to anything that sounded like future ghetto punk, because it started as an image where I just saw an animation in my head, and then writing the story, translating the image I'd seen into a producer that was also very curious and open minded, and was a nerd. He was a maths and science person. Anything he did, he was invested. That's when future ghetto funk [began], because I just wanted my voice, my sound, my reference to my music.
I'll play a song over and over and over. I don't even necessarily listen to albums outside of that. It's myself, the most constant, myself and Beyoncé. It's actually a manifestation of who you want to work with next. I never actually looked at it, but my entire box ticking comes from the manifestations, which obviously [is] backed up by the work and everything else. But it's wild because back then, even when I created future ghetto funk, when I was recording between 2007 and 2009 [I] finished it. It was so hard for me to hear my voice back. It was like, I can't listen back. It's so crazy that now I listen to myself the most.

Yeah, oh my god. I love In My Kitchen and Mntanam. A couple of the songs in the album, there's a big theme on scenarios I've been through in my hustling for music after running away that I didn't have time to cry or speak about. I just had to move. Being able to find words instead of just like cutting in replacement of a word to express what I felt. I wrote the words. The whole thing is, I'm forgiving, I'm letting go. [The album is] finally done after a year. I went through the most, I feel like I was ready, but it had to be the entire process of feeling the letting go, like you forgive for real. And that was tough. I couldn't smoke my weed, I couldn't drink, I just let it happen. I had to go through that process because it’s one thing saying something, it's another feeling.
It's also readied me for in situations where now I have to speak about the project without being emotional or detached. [The feeling] was like this big hole that you can't fill with food. You end up not drinking, not smoking because you can't even numb it. You might as well go through it. So, it was a trip and I got out stronger for it.

No, that's my voice. Nothing was sped up. It's exactly how I recorded it.

It's so common where I come from, that's why I've got different scenarios of dads not being present. It's tradition in the Zulu culture to have many wives and some other cultures, but speaking from our household, it's not necessarily common, I'm Xhosa. It is not excluding the different scenarios where a father who now takes accountability, not forcing you to forgive them because of now they're old and they need you, or they were young and stupid. It's the different absent fathers from the different walks of life, especially where I come from. I went with the common stories. It's so crazy, maybe I've played it for like five people, and all five cried because they all could connect with the story. Another one who cried came from a mum and a dad's happy home, but she could connect at the same time.
I felt it was also crucial, because it's the most common thing. I've got the translated version of like the summary of the song, which is, “forgive me, my child, I'm wrong with regrets for denying your existence all these years”. That could probably connect to me because my twins’ baby daddy had kicked my twins out and myself. And they were five months, saying not to bother when he had opportunity to actually do [a paternity] test. I was working from when I gave birth, I was working before I gave birth, I was working during after, with my C-Section. There were so many opportunities that [he] could have taken the responsibility if [he] really wanted to know. And it turns out, four and a half years later, he then was the father when he got the balls to. There's so many different scenarios that are infused with all the common stories. And absent fathers taking accountability when they come back, asking for forgiveness, and you're not forced to because you're old, because, in our tradition, it would be like, I'm old, I'm wiser. Now you have to forgive him, your parents. It's like Fuck [off] out of here if you don't take accountability, I'm actually leaving room for you to communicate because I've got grace. Why? Because I know that in me having the upbringing that I've had, I've chosen, as an adult to move past that and learn to forgive for the betterment of myself and my progress in life and not have space for that hatred. And when I got the access to a therapist, [it] is the one thing that helps you find the roots to why people react the way they do, and therefore you're not always offended. That also gives you the empathy to just think of when they didn't have access, or even the option of going to see a therapist.  They took the upbringing for what it was, whether love was taught or not, whether their parent, both parents were there or not. And so, they did what they thought was best. I think even with just manifestation, you open ways and not leave room for bullshit to occupy space, because there's so much to achieve, and forgiveness is a part of that. But the authenticity of forgiving for you to be able to have a relationship where you look at someone's great parts and the silver lining, because the reality of life is you've got to absorb. You get better at shock absorbing all that bullshit as a car that keeps moving and moving forward to higher heights, because you are able to let go. I'll tell you, I'm the closest person to my dad now, because he sees me as his friend more than anything, because I'm not scared of him, but I'm not disrespectful, and I'm the one child [who] has just been upfront with all the bullshit. It's that honesty that got us here, I've chosen to find the charming parts and let go of the traumatic parts, which don't exist in the street when you're charming your motherfucker.

Including In My Kitchen.

Thank you.

Imagine Snow White turns 21 and the seven dwarves become her strippers.

[She] turns the pumpkin into a party bus.

To me, it means egg heist squad, which is that heist. The concept he came up with, Jabu [Nadia Newman] and Khosi [Khumalo], the director and producer of the video. Khosi and Jabu have known me from the beginning of my career, before my success. For them, even, this project feels like a full circle. They were so excited.
I feel like one thing that I love the most about my brand is the fact that it doesn’t matter what type of artist it is, but whenever they collaborate with me, they do the wildest thing, not worried about what people will think or what will work in which space. That's what I love, but evoking that element with any collaborator that I have, and Khosi and Jabu they played on the fact that I work with bad bitches in general. I liberate bitches. I stand for bad bitches, like, let's go. We did have an egg recession in South Africa, so apparently, eggs are expensive. Now, I'm saying apparently, because I don't necessarily do my house groceries.

No, no, it's teamwork, like everywhere, like my personal life and my business life, it's teamwork, on all angles for real, it's beautiful. I'm privileged to have that. And so with the end, they came back and they were expensive, so it still played on it. We got the giant egg from the egg factory. That's the golden egg. The album also [starts with] Scrambled Eggs. Like, begin your morning, in the start of your day. To be honest with you, I don't know the reference, but knowing Jabu and Khosi, their minds are also wild and when we come together, that motherfucker is magic.

Everything that you see of me presented is God given. I'm just highlighting, by the way, please appreciate my booty. Because even me, I do that, I've got the love song for my ass, Big Booty. It's just a reminder, because I own all of it. And so, I'm reminding you, and when you sing along to that, you better be owning it. So, it's your confidence in future if you don't already own it right now.

Absolutely, I discuss how I move to it, then I jump on it, or I jump on it, but my lyrics go with dance moves. So, when you've been in studio with me long enough, you'll pick up what my flow is from how I dance, but also at the same time I dance offbeat, so whatever your count would be it’s different to what I'm hearing in my ear and how I'm moving, so you can't really predict how I'm gonna jump on it, because you don't really have the count. There's been times where I've worked with some producers, and they think I recorded wrong, and I'm like, do not shift that motherfucker. I know what I heard. I've also [come] to realise that I hear differently.

This one time, I was at this party, and they were playing music, so I'm dancing while looking on the floor, and I look up and [see] if the entire crowd is dancing to the same song, but they were dancing to a different beat. And then I had to close my ears to start looking at how they're dancing. I heard different stuff altogether. It's so beautiful because it adds to my uniqueness. My ear contributes to my uniqueness, my voice. But I promise you, I'll be hearing things in my way. I'll be hearing other songs on songs. I love it, because I can hear four different songs and it's still just one song. It's like when you get patterns and designs from the wind blowing a jacket from a distance, and you see this thing, and then you see the jacket? It's normal, it's basic. But it's working like that with me, in my fashion and in my music, I guess in my creativity, I'll hear so many different things that I need to. It's beautiful in the studio, in my art.

My life is always changing. My team is always good, my team is always growing. My team is always grinding. My career has always been an escalator. Even if you switch it off, I'm still climbing up. Never rest, just gradual growth in general. And there's just so many highlights that make me feel like next level. It's like a game in my head, like phase two, level three. Every time I tick a box, whether planned or by surprise, I'm always writing a bigger dream and shit like that. I feel like a lot has shifted, in my personal life, in my business life. People I love, people I just cover, I'll go in my DMs to send them a message. And it turns out they sent me messages prior, years ago. There's just so many meeting points. Things that are just crazy. It's also beautiful that I'm on my phase three in my writing, after I moved to Johannesburg. I’ve moved to London, moved to New York, Japan, and am spending so much time outside. And then on top of that, there's just the fact that people I grew up listening to love me now in different territories, not even just in my country, and wanting to collaborate. Another wild thing is the fact that I've got the different demographic of people that I've got loving my music. If I meet people the first time, and they ask, “what do you do?” [I reply] I make hits, multi genre. It's just being able to live my dreams according to how I saw myself and beyond. The surprises that come with are wild. It’s fucking wild.

I mean, I love strip clubs. I stand for all vagina owners, anyone society looked at twice, anyone that's different, especially [so-called] black sheep. Strip clubs, I remember, even during my commercial success, I arrived in a commercial space in South Africa, when I'd go to strip clubs, I'd have strippers cry like, “Oh my God. Before you came through, I used to hide my job, because I live in the hood and they'll judge me, after you, I'm just like, you stand for us. You represent us.” And I’ll be like go get it girl, you gotta be making your money tonight. Thank you, let’s go. The fact that I've been able to create a safe space when I throw private parties where anyone that is my guest knows not to touch. Permission needs to be granted, if you're touching you touch with money, no free hands. Being able to generate incomes while giving protection and people feeling respected, where it's also translated to the guys as well. My database, you'll basically tell me what type of person you want, the sexual orientation and all that. And I've got the database of the best people here, and that only comes with the fact that I represent and I respect.

No, this is just the private parties. The crazy thing is that [with] The Naked Club, I was interviewed by a publication that is not exposed to that world, and they said the headline literally on street poles was [I] opened a brothel. And I'm just like, What the heck? Because I literally told them, there's no money exchanged. It's a private situation where I wanted to create that space for the black community. In the spaces that society has accepted, which is like normal clubs, whatever you’re dressed in, sexual violations still exist there. Violence still exists there, and society still accepts those spaces. And when the spaces that they're not exposed to, there's so many levels of confidence, where people walk around naked, half naked, with their bodies, no one cares about what size you are. Liberated. No one touches you by mistake. They need to be to ask for permission. No one even makes you uncomfortable. You’re literally banned from the society. I was saying that that needs to be exposed to the black community, because there's not many of them that you see in those spaces, you know, and it sounds like even just getting accepted is just like a long process where they just have to do security checks and you can be blacklisted easily. So that's what they misunderstood, because of the perception they already had of me, must still have of me, because of me owning my body, because of them seeing me through sexual eyes. They couldn't hear me speak anything that had to do with the liberation I stood for, and the world never had any confusion with what it is that I stood for and still continue to stand for.

I don't know why that is. I do know that I've created a space. In 2015 South Africa, when my music video wouldn't be played because I'm making women look cheap when I am my own video hoe, dressed like all the boys that have video hoes, it was me and my girls who are owning the narrative, and they wouldn't play it on TV with my wardrobe and all that jazz. To now know that they're more open with that. They play that stuff on TV, the same things I was rejected for, just owning my entire narrative and my body. I got rejected existing as myself, maybe it's too much. I said I'm enough, and I will fight for my role in what it is that I know my purpose is in the world, and you can't stop me when it comes to that, and that's been my motto. I'm so privileged to be able to not have anyone that's fucked me over, anyone that's stolen from me, anyone that's made me start from scratch again. There were lessons, and that's why I would kiss a lot of frogs, not giving up on the fact that I will get into my castle with the right members in the castle. That comes with you knowing your power, nothing can break me. If you think that's going to be money, I know I am money, and I will make it again. Try me.

It's not like anything. I'm fine. I'm normal. I'm already Moonchild, like nothing surprises anyone. There's no coming out to my family. I've always been the girl who just does what they want. I don't have any pressures, really, to be honest, I've never experienced anything, because me dating a woman was during my fame. I've never felt like I need to explain anything. I'm not put under pressure because I'm sexualised by every sex. In fact, I'm basically the unicorn, even girls will say, “Oh my God, if I was going to be bisexual, I would do it for you.” Type shit. I'm the one who makes the woman and the man in the relationship feel insecure. They both fantasise about me. For me, the position I've always played in any space, it's always as myself. Nothing really shocked people. They're just surprised. It's Moonchild, okay.

We were talking about the same thing because we get to meet a lot of motherfuckers that think they [can] come into relationships with us, to dilute us, and it's like, No, I never said, Hi, my name is juice, and I'm dilutable. So, we could relate to that. It was so easy, like oh my god, when the letters come and you had worked the whole time, and they’re on your couch in your house, in your clothes, and they’re watching your TV, and they can't walk out of your place to go pick up your letter. As opposed to when you’re coming home, you bring the pig, you slaughter the pig, and they cannot make the bacon, but that's it, and it's relaxed. You can be a partner, the same way women aren’t necessarily present when their partner is rocking, they're a cheerleader, you can play that role when you know which role you're great at. So be great at being a couch potato. Be great being my partner, whatever role you're playing.

I don’t know.

Johan got the sample from the refugee camp he was doing in Malawi. It’s one of the artists from that refugee camp.

But, with me, that song I finally recorded it because that’s the first song I wrote after I lost my virginity. I was horny and I wrote those words. I was already sexual but to know which path to grow into I went into liberation because of that animal my uncle. It was the first poem I wrote after having sex. I remember the guy lost it too, and on the phone to him he said he thought I had more experience than just the first time and truth be told I had already had another experience, I was already exposed to my [clitoris]. It’s not even the shock value in my content, it was just honest. Once I saw that, I was like I’m addicted to that too. Let me shock you with the things that are actually the truth, while liberating and owning the entire narrative.

I had a friend who was working with her at Global Citizen [Festival], when she came to South Africa. So, I got the privilege to go to the private party without the media. It was so informal and I performed on top of the bar counter. As long as I’ve got the mic and the attention. Then I got introduced to the co-director of the film he said everyone in LA had referred him to [Moonchild]. I didn’t know what the project would be, but Beyoncé was always in my vision board. After the party, meeting everyone, I got to play Global Citizen. I remember I had a meeting and went to the studio. [Then] she used my song and my verse. In 2019 [someone from Beyoncé’s team] saw me at Coachella, I was with Diplo then, he followed me and told me it was for The Lion King. I couldn’t even tell the people I was with at Coachella. I’d been sending so much music. I was doing ad-libs and verses, I didn’t even know which song would come out.

It was 2018, I was working with a crazy manager, I’m grateful for her craziness because she made me meet my awesome manager. There was this project Damon [Albarn] was doing, Africa Express that my manager at the time knew about. When I got there it was wild. I ended up working on the whole week. I was in every house making a song. I was making so much music. I was there with intention, whoever was working with Damon, I’m going to work with them. I’m going to show off and do every single fricking genre that exists. Damon even, the only picture he posted was a picture of me and him with the moon on our back on his personal page. It was beautiful. Even now it’s got the point where if he’s got a song with whoever if I get into the hype someone is going to be removed because my verse is fire. He just loves me and my work.
Fast forward, I was in the UK, then I went to the studio. We ended up recording, not knowing that I was recording for the Gorillaz project now. He was already fond of me, we already had this relationship like older brother vibes. I recorded, then I heard way later that it was going to be in the album. I even toured with them; it was fucking wild.

Definitely, more representation and being able to speak in Xhonglish, which is how we speak in the hood.  I feel like even my accent is because of Xhonglish. For me, I want kids to be able to own who they are and be relevant in the time and be able to teach. Even after touring, I will say where my men and the crowd will say “where’s my man”, which is in my song. Even my first album [title], Rabulapha! means it’s here or [something else]. I wasn’t intentional about it. Whether you say it right or wrong it still fits the narrative of the song. After years of going lives, when I do hooks in Xhosa it must be easy on the palete and only when you have time with me will I teach you how to say [click sounding Xhosa] and all that jazz, the art of it. I must be able to get the audience to sing along for the first time without even understanding what it is about. Then the choices of words are easy, like uyandithanda, which means you are charming me, which is Xhonglish. I’ve been conscious that I don’t want to be fascinating by using clicks without involving my crowd, so that we are together in this thing, which makes it even bigger. When  I go into the studio I think of the crowd first, I write my hook getting the crowd to sing along the first time they are hearing the song and then you will hear my story, so that we always feel included.

A world where people are free to express themselves without separating the rest. For instance, something I will always say within the queer community it doesn’t make sense to fight within us about a femme dating a femme, a white dating a white. Why are we fighting within while fighting the world? Because we need to be together. How is the world meant to accept us if we don’t accept the shades within us? I want a world where [people] quit judging, while fighting for this and not being able to implement it while you move in other scenarios, it doesn’t make sense. It would be a world where you can just live your life, own your narrative and just fuck shit up. If you want to stay in a cocoon, okay. It doesn’t mean we all wear unicorn suits, it doesn’t mean we all wear dark black clothes, it means all of us can exist. That would be my world.
But being realistic, I would take all teachers, all people of public service, all people that work for the government to get psychology tests so that they know how to deal with each and every victim whether they’re speaking or not, just from their actions. I find it insensitive that cops are asking what you were wearing when you are going to report a violence, sexual violence or any type of violence. It feels like you are being violated a second time. Where are you supposed to look for protection? It needs to be implemented with the people that meet you at the door not the therapists that are at different police stations. I need the nurses to be given therapists because [of] what they deal with, government level [workers] to go get help, they also need to have therapy to deal with every day, but that’s neglected. Therapy would be a solution for a lot of people to see and hear what people aren’t saying and whether they know they need help or not, that they say in the things that aren’t mentioned. Understanding the root of why actions are and people taking accountability to move better in a better world. Everyone has got a history and it’s a choice to want to move better, and for those who don’t think they need it if it was normalised they’d know it is a way of life.