Once labelled as the ‘Golden Girl’ of South African R&b music is twenty-five year old Elaine Mukheli. Predictions of how the South African singer, songwriter was going to take over the global scene, ensuing her 2019 debut smash-hit, record setting single ‘You Are The One’ often filled the tabloids. To many, the Pretorian born artist was the next big thing.
Positive reviews from a vast majority of the power holders in the South African music ecosystem, supported by the talented singer’s quick ascension to the top, made it easy to chime in opined views of how the then nineteen year old girl from Pretoria was going to be the one to set a paradigm shift for South African music.
And the signs were there. At just twenty years of age, she had secured a recording and publishing deal with Columbia records. The deal projected her to be at the forefront of the global music industry, representing South Africa.
However, Mukheli’s smooth sail would hit turbulent waves. Following successive hiatus from releasing music, the singer’s momentum dwindled. Even when she did release music, they quickly faded from conversations.
Eventually, it became apparent that Elaine’s deal with Columbia wasn’t living to the expectations of both parties, and the career of the girl who was prognosticated to reach heights reminiscent of Tyla‘s, waned for this.
Now Independent, Elaine hopes to make a significant comeback through her first full- length body of work ‘Stone Cold Heart’.
Stone Cold Heart is segmented into two sides. The Side A tenders to lovers of contemporary R&B music, which is frankly Mukheli’s focal strength. While Side B sees Elaine struggle to come out of her comfort zone as she explores Amapiano and Afrobeats rhythm patterns.
Making r&b music for Elaine feels like second nature. In fact, she sings like a purist of the genre so well that it becomes hard to believe that she was raised in South Africa.
Understandably, Elaine owns autonomy in how she chooses to express self. However, it is thoughtful to take a cue from her African contemporaries. Frankly, the need to disruptively adapt is imperative.
Without a doubt, the magnetic trio of Tems, Tyla, and Ayra Starr are heavily influenced by Western contemporary music genres. The difference however between the respective singers and Elaine when it pertains to garnering a collective appeal, is that all three fuse already familiar western niches but with sonic and personal idiosyncrasies that are uniquely theirs.
Sadly, Elaine doesn’t have that. She sings like a singer bred and brought up in Atlanta or California. Nothing special, nothing refreshingly new.
While she is a decent storyteller, and fantastic r&b singer, she lacks a certain, unique gravitas towards a global audience that is in constant search of fresh sounds and personalities.
Basically, she sounds too foreign to be South African, and not original enough to capture the attention of the West whose style she replicates too well for her own good.
Album Ratings: 5/10
