Meet Klein, the British-Nigerian Classical Artist and Producer
Harmattan is out now
British-Nigerian singer, songwriter and producer, Klein is unafraid to present all her paradoxes. While she hasn’t got a classical musical background like many of her peers, she’s already shared stages with big-ticket names such as Björk, Wu Tsang, Mark Leckey, and more. Klein’s music escapes labels. Rather than squeezing her artistry into forms that have already been defined, she operates in a lane entirely of her own making, disrupting the old tropes of the classical genre.
With a futuristic sound that masterfully weaves in R&B, Hip-hop, Grime, and more, she’s been telling poignant stories that touch on her Nigerian roots while showcasing a unique mixture of versatility, dexterity, and style. Her music veers from piano-laden solos to punk-pop guitars and bass drops, backed by persistent rhythmic displacement that’s positively hypnotic.
Klein isn’t too bothered with people not receiving her sound. “I was just thinking, would they like it? would they not like it? At least they heard it and that’s important,” she says to me over a zoom call, a few days before her project’s release. That’s why her music is full of her deep appreciation of her West African background, particularly with the release of her latest project ‘Harmattan.’
Following up the release of her single “Roc” and her deal with PENTATONE, an international classical music label, ‘Harmattan’ is a collection of 11-songs named after the West African season. She describes ‘Harmattan’ as a soundtrack of epic revolt against beginnings and ends, drill trapped and re-released into release from communication into lush, unbounded share.
To this end, we caught up with the British-Nigerian act to talk about her strengths as an artist and producer, her passion for storytelling, her UK & Europe Tour, and much more.
Our conversation which follows below has been lightly edited for clarity.
NATIVE: Hi Klein, thank you for joining me today. Hope you’ve been well since wrapping up the project?
KLEIN: Relieved. I feel like I just had something bubbling inside me and I finally let it out and now that it’s out I can finally make a Drill record, it’s like let me just be a trap star. I really just wanted to release more stuff and after I finished the record I was relieved that now I can rest.
NATIVE: How would you describe the music you make?
KLEIN: It’s a weird one because I feel like for years I’ve always regurgitated things that other people have said that I don’t really believe. For years, I never really saw myself as a musician because I was just literally doing something in my spare time that I would just upload and I always say that a lot of things I make stems from hip hop, R&B and whatever way it filters out is something else and out of my control. Recently, I was watching some Nollywood films and I realized that my songs sound like some Nollywood moments. I would say a lot of Nigerian films I saw growing up definitely played a part and the music in all of these films seemed normal to me and that kind of took form over the years.
NATIVE: When did you first find your passion for music and storytelling?
KLEIN: The thing is so funny because in uni, I studied English and Creative Writing and I kind of flopped it. I always used to flop my English and Creative writing and every time I had to write a story, I would make it weird. There was a time I picked Hansel and Gretel and I made it really eerie and my teacher was like “this is really sick” and I was just being myself. That was when I realised that whenever I did stuff, I could just make it the most really ridiculous thing and it became this thing whenever I played shows. Instead of just playing the set I would do a musical, a theater piece and it was just like ah yes you definitely like telling stories. In hindsight, I always wanted to be a filmmaker perhaps that was what I was moving towards before music even became my thing.
NATIVE: When did you then come to start making music professionally?
KLEIN: Last year, so I got a message from the label and I was like okay I want to release with you guys. Up until then I just made stuff as a hobby and I wasn’t really interested in music at all, I had a job as a transcriber, I was a runner for Britain’s Got Talent. I just did a lot of stuff relating to filmmaking, production and made it fun because the music wasn’t really what I was pursuing.
NATIVE: What are some of the familiar themes you are drawn to in your music?
KLEIN: The themes are never necessary except on this new record. What I do is look at the essence of people like Soulja boy when I was younger. It definitely inspired me. I think Grime has played a massive massive effect on me whether I was aware of it or not because I grew up in the South so it definitely affected me. Like Shiesty she had a massive influence on me cause I saw her once when I was 17 and I knew yeah she’s IT. Like Tyler Perry, I like his plays. He’s an icon even though some things can be so random he’s always being himself.
NATIVE: Now you’re about to release a new project in a few days. Harmattan is a very inspiring body of work and an enjoyable listening experience. What’s your creative process like?
KLEIN: I feel like my creative process is the lack of a creative process. I just watch tv and maybe have certain things plugged in. My guitar is always there and that’s cause I always just overthink so I just trip myself and that’s when I end up making stuff and saving them even if it’s crappy. It could end up being a classical track or a Hip-Hop interlude that I make for a live show. With some of the tracks like Harmattan, there were certain things I was conscious about like the solo piano. I really wanted to make a track to show the history of piano playing.
NATIVE: It also refers to a season here in West Africa. How much of your Nigerian roots do you incorporate into your music?
KLEIN: The name kind of suited the record. A lot of times I have some gap in my memory and a lot of things I can’t remember but I know there was a time I went to Nigeria and it was the harmattan season. There was this weird time that everything felt very very lucid but also dissociative, I also felt very safe. It just sort of reminds me of how I felt around that time. This record embodies that feeling.
NATIVE: How much of your personal life do you reflect in your music?
KLEIN: Too much. A lot of my friends know me but they don’t really know me. I have a barrier between people in my everyday life so I feel like my music is a way for my friends and family to find out things about me. A lot of things are quite personal and from personal experiences.
NATIVE: Your most recent release “Roc” is a very interesting track and the video also captures the theme behind the song. What was the inspiration behind this?
KLEIN: Over the past two years, I’ve had such a weird dream to be in the Roc Nation brunch. I wanted to be with Jay-Z. It’s a manifestation song and the video is a reality of what my life is actually like. I wanted to just document what was in my actual surroundings and I was just filming it cause I’ve always felt like my life was a SIMs character, it’s quite mundane.
NATIVE: What would you like fans and listeners to take away from this body of work?
KLEIN: I was just thinking would they like it? would they not like it? At least they heard it and that’s important, that’s all.
NATIVE: You also have a passion for the arts and have your first full-length film underway. Tell me more about this side of you and how you have nurtured it alongside your musical career?
KLEIN: I see them side by side, everything is just an extension of the other. I’ve never really seen it differently, I’ve done both the same kind of way.
NATIVE: How much do your two passions have a bearing on each other and the way you view the world?
KLEIN: I’m really a dissociative person so I haven’t really thought that far to what my view of the world is. I see the world the way Mona Scott-Young sees the world.
NATIVE: You’ll be touring between this November and March next year. Will this be your first tour and what cities are you most interested in visiting?
KLEIN: Nigeria definitely. I’m also looking forward to Bristol because it’s a show on a boat, that’s going to be a vibe. Manchester, Lisbon, and I’m looking forward to the lowkey shows which is the one at Rough Trade East because I used to go there when I was younger just to look at vinyls. So it’s pretty insane that the place I used to sit at is the same place I’ve been booked to perform a show.
NATIVE: What’re the next few months looking like for Klein?
KLEIN: I have a film that came out so we’re going to keep screening that, keep playing shows. I just started working on a play I can’t disclose yet but I’m definitely working on that.
Stream ‘Harmattan’ below.
Featured image credits/Courtesy of the artist
Luwa.Mp4 Releases Riotous Debut Album, ‘punKstA*’
Across the album’s 12 tracks, Luwa.Mp4 continues his fiery exploration and fusion of genres like Punk Rock,...
Rising singer and rapper Luwa.Mp4 has released his debut album titled ‘punKstA*.’ The underground star who has been on a release spree all year long, announced the imminent arrival of his debut only a couple of days ago with a cryptic trailer video and an Instagram caption that simply read ‘PUNKSTA* MONDAY.’
Before the arrival of ‘punKstA*,’ the rising fusion star had been showcasing his diligence and talent with a consistent output that has seen him put out over a dozen songs since the start of the year. A string of singles led to a 6-pack titled ‘lore skooL,’ while a deluxe version that housed 5 new songs came just a month later.
His debut album’s lead single, “pUNK FANTASY,” arrived in late July, setting the stage for what could prove to be a pivotal moment in the underground star’s burgeoning career.
Across the album’s 12 tracks, the eclectic singer continues his fiery exploration and fusion of genres like Punk Rock, Afropop, Hyperpop, and Rap into something uniquely different. Tracks like “Pure Water,” which was previously teased on Cruel Santino’s Subaru Live Stream, the abrasive, Tecno-influenced “pROMISED NEVERLAND,” and the more laidback “pEEp MY RIDE” put on display the sort of varied, autotune-soaked approach that has set him apart and helped carve a growing niche.
While Luwa decided to go solo on his debut, credited as the only recording artist, the album was brought to life by a cast of talented producers like frequent collaborator TOPSY, Emyboi, JTRN, 3CB, FVKK.ANDI and Jeremy Cartier.
Listen to ‘punKstA*,’ here.
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Shekhinah Returns With Surprise Album, ‘Less Trouble’
The South African R&B star is at her most assertive on her first album in four years.
South African R&B and Pop singer Shekhinah has released a new surprise album titled ‘Less Trouble.’ The Durban star, who had been quiet for most of the year, took to social media shortly before midnight to share the new album’s cover, synopsis, and tracklist, simply stating, ‘If you’re seeing this my album LESS TROUBLE is out now at Midnight,’ in an Instagram caption.
The soulful singer first began teasing ‘Less Trouble,’ her first album in over four years, about a year ago when she released its lead single “Risk,” a bouncy Afropop-inspired collab with Ghanaian star MOLIY. A few months after the release of “Risk,” she put out “Steady,” a dreamy pop number that suggested that something bigger was on the horizon. But then it was largely radio silence about a project until its surprise arrival at midnight.
If 2021’s ‘Trouble In Paradise’ represented a coming-of-age for Shekhinah, subsisting some of the dreamy, youthful exuberance of her debut album for more measured musings on themes like heartbreak and grief, ‘Less Trouble’ finds her at her most assertive, writing and singing with the acuity of someone who is grown, decisive and discerning. The delicate opener “Break Up Season” sets the tone for the rest of the album as she shows little tolerance for shady behaviour and toxic patterns.
Other standout cuts on the album like “Bare Minimum,” a sombre collab with fellow South African award-winning singer lordkez, the ethereal, in-your-face interlude “New Casanova,” and the percussive “What Are We,” where Shekhinah contemplates the nature of a relationship but ultimately demands all or nothing, all drive home a part of the album’s synopsis, which reads ‘A BOOK ON MORE HEARTBREAK BUT LESS HEARTACHE.’
Shekhinah invites a couple of new collaborators on ‘Less Trouble,’ featuring the aforementioned MOLIY and lordkez as well as multi-instrumentalist Mars Baby and Young Stunna across the album’s 11 tracks. Mpilo Shabangu handled the majority of the album’s production, while other producers like Michael Morare, her longtime collaborator, Mthintheki Mzizi, and Vuyo also contributed to the album.
Listen to ‘Less Trouble’ here.
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The NATIVE’s First Impressions Of Amaarae’s ‘Black Star’
‘Black Star’ marks another evolutionary arc for Amaarae, and The NATIVE team offer our thoughts after a...
Change has always been a constant theme in any discussion about the career of Ghanaian-American star, Amaarae. Since she emerged as a singular voice in the late 2010s, she has evolved from a sirenic Afropop-adjacent singer into a Punk-Pop firestarter with minimal fuss. ‘Fountain Baby,’ her 2023 sophomore album, was a sweeping departure from the lilting melodies and shapeshifing cadences of the hypnotic ‘The Angel You Don’t Know,’ emphasizing her commitment to charting new courses with her music.
In the lead-up to her new album, ‘Black Star,’ she has wholly embraced a Pop aesthetic and sheen that was reflected on the album’s promotional singles, “S.M.O.” and “Girlie-Pop!.” Now that the album has arrived, the singer has advised listeners not to go in expecting a continuation of the soundscape on ‘Fountain Baby.’ As keen followers of Amaarae’s career from its start, we are sure that ‘Black Star’ marks another evolutionary arc for her, and we offer our thoughts after a few listens.
WHAT WERE YOUR EXPECTATIONS OF AMAARAE GOING INTO THIS ALBUM?
Kemnachi: I had zero doubts that she would impress me again. Amaarae always comes correct. She is audacious with her choices, taking creative risks most artists would not dare to imagine, and somehow rendering them seamless, deliberate, and effortless. Her music has a way of enveloping me: it’s fluid, slightly dangerous, and yet irresistibly sensual. Every project feels like an immersive world she has curated down to the finest detail. With ‘Black Star,’ I knew it was not going to be a mere collection of songs but another meticulously constructed realm.
Bamise: I expected something fun, genre-bending, and sonically diverse in the fashion that Amaarae’s music typically is. I may have taken the album title a bit too literally, though, because listening made me realise I had an eye out for some Pan-African statements or something to spark discourse on African identity, but I didn’t quite catch any of that.
Boluwatife: Amaarae has largely delivered throughout her career, so I knew she was going to come correct again. She’s one of those forward-thinking artists who take the kind of risks most others wouldn’t, but she always manages to make it work. She’s proven to be a musical omnivore who constantly meshes her wide-ranging influences into something new, fluid, icy, and more often than not, sensual. I knew ‘Black Star’ wasn’t going to be any different.
WHAT SONGS STOOD OUT ON THE FIRST LISTEN?
Wale: I liked “Girlie-Pop!.” I feel like it captures Amaarae’s vision of pushing Afropop into the future. She’s also really grown comfortable with music and lyricism and will not dumb down her message for anybody. The instrumental for “Girlie-Pop!” is also a wonder; it’s so dense, but there are pockets for Amaarae to be emotive about her feelings. Top song!
Daniel Akins: I need to hear “B2B” at the next rave I’m at. Amaarae is in her Dance era, and I’m here for it. Kiss Me Thru The Phone pt 2” with PinkPantheress is the collaboration I knew I needed, and I’m glad they finally linked up. It’s a clear standout on the project; their ethereal style complements each other.
Shina: “B2B” was the one that did it for me. That is my favourite track on the project. The number of times I ran it back was unhealthy for a first listen. It was also really fun to catch the Don Toliver “Best You Had” sample. I need to hear this outside!
HOW WELL YOU THINK THE GUEST APPEARANCES ENHANCED THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE?
Israel: The guest features on Black Star aren’t mere flexes. They’re strategic, theatrical, and sometimes emotionally resonant. They enhance, yes, but they do so on Amaarae’s terms. A standout for me was PinkPantheress on “Kiss Me Thru The Phone pt 2.” The tradeoff is that a few songs feel like dazzling cameos rather than an integrated conversation, yet overall they enhance the album’s drama, texture, and bravado with precision.
Daniel Banjoko: Everyone showed up and delivered, no weak links here. Instead of just guest spots, they felt like vital pieces of a bigger puzzle. Charlie Wilson on “Dream Scenario” nailed his part especially, making the track sound exactly like its name promises.
Moore: The guest appearances on ‘Black Star’ feel very intentional; each one enhances the album’s world without overshadowing Amaarae’s vision. PinkPantheress’s signature airy delivery meshes with Amaarae’s experimental pop sound. Naomi Campbell’s commanding voice on “ms60” is an unexpected but powerful addition, adding drama to the track. Each feature feels carefully chosen.
WHAT SONG IS THE BIGGEST SKIP?
Bamise: Not to be a party pooper, but I don’t get the PinkPantheress collab, “Kiss Me Thru The Phone pt 2.” It feels like a PinkPantheress song with less pop in it, and just borrows the title of the iconic Soulja Boy song but has no other similarities. It’s between that and “ms60.” For me, the chorus of that sounds like something I’ve heard from Amaarae before, and I doubt its absence would have diminished the album.
Shina: I feel like biggest skip is a strong word for a solid project, but if I have to pick a song to skip, it’ll be “ms60.” I think it’s easily forgettable.
Wale: It’s hard to single out a song that stuck out to me, but hearing Naomi Campbell on “ms60” threw me off. It’s just too contrived to bear for me.
WHAT SONG HAS THE BIGGEST HIT POTENTIAL?
Boluwatife: My gut answer would probably be “She Is My Drug,” just because of how she beautifully reworks the melodies from Cher’s “Believe.” DJ remixes of this song could go crazy. But if I were to think a bit more logically, TikTok would probably lap up “Kiss Me Thru The Phone pt 2.”
Daniel Banjoko: “Kiss Me Thru the Phone pt 2” goes crazy. Amaarae and PinkPantheress are the perfect match. This collab feels like it was destined to happen, and it delivers in full. Honestly, I can’t believe it took this long, and now I just need more tracks from these two, ASAP.
Moore: “Kiss Me Thru The Phone pt 2” has the biggest hit potential on the album. The song has a nostalgic, sad party girl vibe that makes it appealing, and it’s also catchy and well-produced. PinkPantheress consistently performs well on platforms like TikTok, and her fanbase overlaps in a really interesting way with Amaarae’s. The collaboration feels organic and exciting, and will likely create a lot of buzz.
OVERALL FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Wale: There is a very visceral quality to how Amaarae expresses desire that I don’t hear very often in a lot of music. It’s abstracted and warped in futuristic textures, but it’s very profoundly human, and it’s always great to hear that even as she advances the sonics of her delivery. I do, however, have an issue with the thematic scope of ‘Black Star.’ I thought there would be overt references to her experiences of navigating her Ghanaian identity, but those references are limited to samples and interpolations. It’s still an incisive listen and a triumph for finding ways to advance music from Africa.
Bamise: It’s Amaarae; she can never go wrong. But for me, this is the album that excites me the least from her catalogue. Other than how bass-heavy some songs on the album are, like “S.M.O.” and “She Is My Drug” among others, it feels similar to other projects I’ve heard from her in a way that’s not exactly refreshing or mind-bending. I may have gotten spoiled by how diverse and eclectic Amaarae’s music tends to be, but I wanted more from her. I expected more gangster, Hip-Hop Amaarae. Thematically, I didn’t get anything that gives the Black Star of Ghana, or black stars are ruling the world. Will I listen again and enjoy every bit of it still, though? Yes, I will.
Shina: So first off, this is a solid body of work. I love the fact that Amaarae stuck with the Dance, Electro-Pop route she was going with throughout the album. The features also played their part, adding their unique touches to each record. I would say, though, a feature I would’ve loved to hear on this project is 070Shake. I think she would have been perfect on “100DRUM,” but we don’t always get what we want, do we? Thematically, I think Amaarae could’ve leaned heavily on her Ghanaian heritage, seeing as the title and cover of the album are a nod to that. Maybe Amaarae just wants us to dance, and that’s what I’m just gonna do, and you should too.
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