Elsy Wameyo Announces Debut Album ‘Saint Sinner’
The singer, rapper and producer has also dropped her new single, ‘Umva’.
Image by Holyziner
Nairobi-born, Adelaide-based singer, rapper and producer Elsy Wameyo has announced the release of her much anticipated debut album, Saint Sinner.
The album comes off the back of her 2022 EP Nilotic and was recorded in her native Kenya with an ensemble of creatives, including producers Wuod Omollo, Polycarp, and Ywaya Tajiri.
In a press release discussing the album, the 2022 triple j Unearthed Artist of the Year Award winner shared her feelings on recording Saint Sinner.
“I know I had always yearned to say these certain things; I never found the perfect way to say it. Especially when you’re a young black girl, no one is encouraging you to speak your mind. I know for a fact that these are words that I’ve definitely sat with for a long time.”
To mark the announcement of Saint Sinner, Wameyo has shared new single, ‘Umva’. The track follows on from earlier singles Sinner and Piny Lara and is a dynamic rap tune with Wameyo in fine form.
“‘Umva’ was a part where I could flex, but still speak my truth. It was coming from a place where, internally, I was feeling this album. Internally, I knew I was having this battle between saint and sinner, I just didn’t understand it. I didn’t know what it was,” Wameyo said in a statement about the track.
“Internally, I knew I was having this battle between saint and sinner, I just didn’t understand it. I didn’t know what it was. I wrote this verse with Motez before that London trip... I had to say certain things and this was one of those verses, where it was my body – whether I liked it or not – saying, ‘We have to get this out, because it’s the only way we’re going to heal.’”
You can check out the Omoke Ogao directed music video for ‘Umva’ below.
Regarding the song’s name, ‘Umva’ translates to ‘listen’ and was recommended by Wameyo’s photographer. “I ran with that so hard. It was perfect,” she said about the title. “It was exactly the energy I wanted: when I speak, you’d better sit down and listen. When I enter a room, you stand up and you must salute. Respect.”
The forthcoming release of Saint Sinner comes after a busy couple of years for Wameyo that have seen her support Aussie favourite Genesis Owusu, play WOMADelaide, headline her own tour and even perform in Kenya.
Saint Sinner is out Friday, July 26 via AWAL/Impressed Recordings. You can pre-save/pre-order the album here.
