Channelling Tkay Maidza's quirkiness

You know when record labels are throwing themselves at you after only having dropped a few tracks that you’re pretty much a big deal. This is what has happened with 18-year-old Zimbabwe-born Aussie female rapper Tkay Maidza, who is, you guessed it, a big deal. She represents what is right with hip hop today, her track ‘Brontosaurus’ produced by Badcop took the nation by storm with her M.I.Aesque rhymes and experimental hip hop nature. Luckily for us she hasn’t picked a label yet, and has decided to drop her new EP independently which means we will be able to fully immerse ourselves in the greatness that is Tkay Maidza.

We chat to Tkay about what to expect on her latest album, why her dad is bugging her to incorporate her roots into her music and her plan to take over the world. Margaret Tra writes.

Brontosaurus is very M.I.A like, what inspired you on this track? P.s do you love dinosaurs? 

I'm not really sure to begin with I looked at basically everyone (female vocalists) for their inspiration then when it came to writing the final version of the song I didn't really have anything in mind it was just me and the track really. Dinosaurs are cute (laughs).

Looks like you can pretty much have your pick on which label you want to take, have you made a decision yet?

Not as yet. Still working on it.

You have announced you'll drop your EP independently, how is that going for you? What can we expect?

It's going good, we're pretty much done. Just putting the final touches and then working on the cover art etc. Each song is different there's quite a few electronic sub genres.  And I don't know you'll just have to wait and see.

You seem to have a quirkiness that exudes in you, who influences you?

Just the people I meet, the people I work with and the music I listen to. I just love anything that’s fresh. It always gives me a different view on everything. I think the quirkiness is just me not having a clue of what's going on (laughs).

You were born in Zimbabwe, will your music infuse with your roots?

Hopefully I can do that sometime my dad always gives me hints of drum patterns and instruments that can sound cool in songs.

Only 18-years-old, what do you have planned musically for the future? 

I plan to make good music in the future; I want to improve my rapping and song writing skills. I think that is the key to anything and everything will fall into place. Other than that hopefully I can play some more awesome shows and my music becomes recognised on a global scale. That's the plan.

What stimulates your soul?

Being able to feel happy, sad, angry, alive, relieved and so on. I think it's so important to be able to channel in with your feelings because if you can't you're not living. Music helps me feel when I don't feel at all.

Listen to Tkay on Soundcloud.