SA: Moonchild Sanelly drops single ahead of new album

‘Strip Club’ flips the male-led narrative by placing women in charge. It is off the singer’s upcoming 19-track second album Phases, which is set for release on 10 June. The project will be released under Transgressive Records and features Blxckie (‘Uli’), Sir Trill (‘Soyenza’) and Trillary Banks (‘Cute’).

“This song means so much to me,” Moonchild Sanelly said. “Especially as the people being entertained in the strip club are the ones condemning these women in the outside world. This is my love letter to the hustlers, the strippers and the twerkers – a celebration of the continuously judged.  

“These people are doing what they need for their hustle, and whenever there’s a woman fighting for survival, I’m going to celebrate her and make her voice heard. I want to change the narrative of clubs being perceived as foul spaces, and turn them into a space of liberation, to teach respectful culture, and tell people to come correct to witness the beauty and the hustle of the underrepresented.”

The singer says the album’s title is meant to convey a variety of meanings: from the range of genres covered on the album’s runtime, to the various sounds and styles it encompasses as well as the personal journey she has taken to be where she is today.

“I think that, with this album, I’ve managed to piece all the different parts of me together, because I’m known for different things in different parts of the world,” she said. “I think you get to know me better with Phases – all the different sides of me. I want people to relate to the stories I’m telling. I need to be heard by a lot of people.”

Meanwhile, Moonchild Sanelly is currently performing a number of shows at SXSW Festival, and today she announced a debut performance at Village Underground in London on 10 May. She will also perform at The Great Escape Festival in Brighton on 12 and 13 May.