As South Africa kicks off Women’s Month, IOL Entertainment is placing a spotlight on women who have broken barriers and created names for themselves.
Women in South Africa and the world are continuously breaking barriers in their respective fields.
The music industry is no walk in the park, with there being plenty of thorns on the journey to stardom but many constantly prove it is possible.
Five years ago singer and songwriter Elaine burst onto the scene with her independently released EP “Elements", which placed her on the charts and made her an artist worth knowing.
As she gears up to release her debut studio album, which has been a long time coming, Elaine is among the four women, Apple Music is spotlighting on the Alpha playlist which highlights female artists who are history-makers and game-changers in their respective genres.
The Neo-R&B songstress is on the playlist with Afro-pop singer-songwriter Nomfundo Moh, pop R&B doyenne Nanette and amapiano DJ and producer Uncle Waffles. All four women are young and have managed to break barriers when it comes to their careers.
News of Elaine gearing up to drop her debut album has fans excited as it’s been a long time coming. In 2020 she signed a deal with American record label Columbia Records, which signalled the start of great things for the artist.
She was riding the success of her EP, “Elements” which was released during her university days and features the smash hits “Risky” and “You’re The One” but then the pandemic happened.
At the age of 20, she found herself in a foreign country to record an album and wasn’t able to come back to South Africa, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot was going on in her life and she was in a vulnerable position.
“I suffered a lot with my mental health. I did need to take time to address it, write about it and to heal from it.”
Five years later, she is ready to put out a body of work but as an independent artist and not with Columbia Records. The decision to branch away from the American record label was purely a business decision.
Elaine explains that the partnership with Columbia Records was not about pushing her career but more about the resources and platforms that are not as available for R&B artists in South Africa.
“Sometimes as a businesswoman, as a musician and coming from an independent background, there are just some decisions that you need to make that are in favour of your own personal and individual endeavours.
“Columbia and I are still tied because of the music but it won’t be delivered through them a lot of the back end they’re still part of it. It’s just the way it’s being presented and delivered through my label, just like it was the first time.”
Working on her upcoming project resulted in the 25-year-old not putting out as much music as her fans would have liked. She explained that this was not because of the label situation, but because of the way she creates.
“When I work on a project, I build a world, a concept, there’s so much research that goes into it, all the ideas I have.
“This album is a visual album, so it took longer to put together as every single song has a video, it has a story. I collaborated with stylists like Thobeka Mbane, and we built every look, and every detail.
“That’s what I've been busy with, what happened with Columbia was just a business decision they didn’t keep me from releasing new music, it just wasn't ready.”
Having experienced a lot in the past couple of years, Elaine is about to bring her fans into all that has been going on in her world with the new album and they will experience how she has grown from her EP till now.
“The essence of Elaine will forever be the same, I’ll be speaking about the things I go through, trials and tribulation, but there’s a fearlessness now to it. It’s way more unapologetic, it’s way more sort of this is me and I’m not going to change.”
Elaine may have not been an active figure on the music scene but that does not mean she has faded into the background, she has been performing and also actively building the brand Elaine.
“It has been the most rewarding thing of my career, of my life. I will always continue to build my brand, I will always continue to pour however much I need to pour into the brand. It has taken a lot of time.
“Having to start over, go back to the drawing board. I’m someone that expresses myself in so many ways and I need to stay close to who I am to understand what story I want to tell to my audience and fans.
“I’ve grown in many ways and people have seen my growth online and now I’m excited for people to see me grow in my music.”
Elaine is honoured to be on Apple Music’s Alpha playlist and continue representing women who are not afraid to embrace their superpower and vulnerability, and those who are still learning what that means.
“A woman that is breaking barriers in music, is a woman that is fearless and does not allow herself to be boxed in. I feel like the industry will always try to categorise you into whatever they feel you are appropriate or big or small enough for.
“A woman that breaks barriers and boundaries is a woman that breaks all the rules, goes against all protocol and does it with grace and class and brings her community with her while doing that.
“Whenever I put out music, I’m rarely doing it for myself, I'm doing it because there’s a girl or guy that is going to resonate and it’s going to hit home for them.”
Elaine’s debut album is expected to drop in September.
IOL Entertainment