We present to you Meduulla, the 'Music Video' award winner at this year's Youth Music Awards, who seamlessly blends jazz-inspired instrumentals with hip-hop influences.

Meet Meduulla, a trailblazing artist whose soundscape is rooted in her experiences as a first-generation immigrant from Zimbabwe. Spotlighted as a Youth Music NextGen artist, the Mancunian artist has just won the Youth Music Awards ‘Music Video’ award.

 

Since her 2021 debut, she has deftly woven her multicultural narrative into her music, using it as her vessel for social and political commentary. She first made headway in the industry when she showcased her talent on BBC Three program, The Rap Game, where her single ‘Mish Muulla’ was crowned Track of the Week on BBC1Xtra, showcasing her undeniable star quality.

 

2022 was a pivotal year for Meduulla, where she made her festival debut at Reading & Leeds, an experience she had long dreamt of. In the years since then, she has performed at prestigious events like the Manchester International Festival and Green Island Festival, solidifying her presence in the UK music scene. This year, she released her debut EP, Oblongata, supported by Youth Music’s NextGen Fund. This eight-track project blends chill-hop, jazz rap, and UK rap, reflecting on her journey through love, identity, and the embrace of failure.

 

With a string of collaborations—including work with London producer Edbl and soul artists Cherise and Private Joy—Meduulla is on a meteoric rise. As she prepares for her upcoming performance in Paris on 17th October and with her fifth release of the year in collaboration with e.l.f. cosmetics set to launch, we sat down with her to discuss her artistic vision, the significance of her debut project, and her exciting plans for the future.

Congratulations on your Youth Music Awards nomination! How does it feel to be recognised for your work in such a pivotal moment of your career?

Thank you so much! It feels amazing, I feel very blessed. To have something that you made in your room be recognised by such an amazing organisation feels absolutely amazing. It’s the confirmation that I needed to know that I’m on the right path.

What do organisations like Youth Music mean to you?

Without organisations like Youth Music, I would not be able to have a career in music. It is one of the reasons that I’m able to make the project that I have made, and they provide so many different opportunities for young people in music. Honestly, without them, I don’t know where I would be, because they are the reason why the world gets to hear my music.

You’ve performed across cities like Berlin, Madrid, and now Paris is next. How has performing internationally shaped your artistry and live performances?

I think it’s shaped my artistry and live performances because it’s allowed me to understand different cultures and what it means to perform in different spaces. I also have admired the love for hip-hop globally and how people are just so willing to support music that they genuinely love.

I always think of a quote when I’m performing in front of new crowds or unfamiliar crowds. I remember Ghetts once said, “No matter how successful he gets, he’ll always try and be in a room and try and convince people that his music is good.”  So I feel like that’s how it’s changed my artistry, because I’m always very passionate on stage about my own work, and I feel like in turn, that allows people to be passionate about my music, wherever they are from in the world.

This year has been huge for collaborations, from working with Edbl and Cherise to Danskiy. How have these partnerships influenced your sound and creative process?

These collaborations are some of the first collabs I’ve done– I’ve now done six collaborations in total this year. It’s taught me how to push myself and my writing skills, whether it’s in writing something in a short space of time or maybe writing to a beat that I wouldn’t normally write to.

I feel like it’s allowed me to explore in ways that I wouldn’t have imagined if I was just working on my own, and ultimately helped me build amazing connections that I’m going to work with in the future 100%.

Your upcoming release with e.l.f. Cosmetics’ compilation album sounds exciting, can you tell us how this project came together and what we can expect from the track?

I worked with e.l.f last year, and working on their campaign, they took to my music, and we decided to make a song together. At the time, I didn’t know it was going to be part of a massive compilation album with artists from across the world. It’s been amazing to be put next to so many different artists and to be aligned with a brand that I really do love, that I feel like represents individuality and uniqueness. The song we made is called ‘Dupe’, produced by Ethan Hill. You can expect fun, you can expect excitement, dancing and always chill, cool, witty lyrics as well.

You’ve dropped your debut EP, Oblongata last year – talk us through the making of that project and what the EP means to you?

Seeings as it was my first project, I’d be lying if I said I had a structured way of making it, or a routine. It was just writing when I felt something, and my main goal throughout the project was that I wanted people to  have a window into who I am. I touched on things like family, struggling with confidence in myself. I also touched on being from two different cultures.

I just wanted to give a short summary of me, and ultimately, I wanted to show people my influences as well. I really wanted to have witty lyrics in there, like OutKast does, have humour like Erykah Badu, and have skits like Little Brother. I really enjoyed making it, and I learned a lot from the process of making this album. I had a lot of different producers on it as well, so that was also interesting because making it all fit was like putting a puzzle together.

Looking back at your childhood in Manchester, how did your experiences growing up as a first-generation immigrant in the UK influence the stories and emotions we hear on the project?

Because I grew up in Manchester as a migrant from Zimbabwe, I felt kind of different from other people and with that, it meant that I also aligned with other people that felt different. It’s not unique to me to not feel like everybody else, and I feel like that’s reflected in my music. Now, I feel like I make music for nomads, I make music for people who don’t feel like they’re super down the middle, who tick multiple boxes and embrace every single one of those boxes. I also definitely make music for diasporans, and immigrants. I am really inspired by the Fugees. That’s how I feel it influences my music – because I make music for them.

How did Manchester’s culture influence your music?

Manchester allowed me to express myself because I feel like Mancunians, we don’t hold back. They’re very passionate about when they love something, when they hate something, and coming from quite a reserved background – my parents are quite religious – growing up in Manchester allowed me to then express myself. Growing up in the Manchester scene and seeing people be so confident in an accent that’s also not a London accent and be successful in doing that, it inspired me. And again, I feel like it just added to this idea that just because you’re not the curated package, it doesn’t mean that you can’t be successful in what you want to do.

After a breakthrough moment on BBC’s The Rap Game and the success of your single ‘Mish Muulla,’ how do you see your growth as an artist since then?

My growth as an artist since being on The Rap Game has been so fast, and I feel very honoured to be around such talented musicians who are helping me to learn this. I’ve always come from a poetry background and I’ve been a writer since I was very young, but I’ve never come from a musical family. All of the musicality is stuff that I’m learning now. Going through The Rap Game was like a process that kind of sped up the learning, and then after that, I was like, ‘right, okay, I’m in it now.’ Now I  know that you have to work at your craft, and that’s something I’ve made a priority ever since being on the show. I’m so grateful for the experience, and it’s shaped me in that it’s created a great work ethic, showed me a snippet of what it’s like being in the music industry, and allowed me to work on the areas that I need to work on to be an all rounded artist.

You’ve opened for legends like Souls of Mischief and Oddisee. What has performing alongside such icons taught you about commanding the stage and connecting with audiences?

Honestly, watching the legends that I’ve watched perform has been so pivotal in how I perform because watching them, I see that to command a stage, you have to be comfortable on stage and with that, the audience is comfortable with you. I also learned that you have to have fun. No one is going to have fun if you’re not having fun on stage. Just take it easy, it’s supposed to be fun! It’s not like a science. It’s a performance. People in the crowd have your best interest at heart – that’s something that I lean on because nerves can get the best of you when you’re about to perform on stage. Understanding that people are there for you, and people want to see you do well really helps. It was amazing to watch how they do it and I’m taking notes.

Hosting your debut headline show at Matt and Phreds in Manchester was a huge milestone. How did it feel to bring your music home to Manchester’s iconic venue?

It felt so good and I’m really happy that I did it at Matt and Phreds, because Matt and Phreds is a jazz venue, and they don’t usually have DJ decks – it’s predominantly band. It was nice to bring my fusion of jazz and hip-hop into that venue. I enjoyed curating the event. During it, it was quite stressful, but seeing how everything came together – being able to sell my own merch, having my family there, and having people that I’ve never met come to my show – it was honestly such a beautiful experience. I’m also really happy I got to do that in my hometown as well.

Your track ‘Limbo’ went viral on TikTok, amassing over 300K Spotify streams. How do you feel about the role social media plays in today’s music scene, and how has it impacted your career?

It’s a sticky one because, although I have benefited positively from that, I feel like it can be a difficult conversation. Social media has allowed for music to be a little bit more disposable than it already was. I’m so grateful that my song went viral and it made me be able to meet my tribe and find people that love what I do through social media. That was the most amazing part about it, and it happened so organically: no media push, no marketing spend or anything like that. But I also do feel like it’s easy to get caught up on numbers and everything after the viral moment. It doesn’t mean that the music that you make after that is any less important, or any less good. I feel like I’m in two minds. I love that I’m able to use it as a tool, but I don’t want it to be the be-all and end-all for what makes ‘good music’, because I don’t think it’s an accurate indicator.

What’s next for Meduulla? What’s the rest of your 2024 looking like?

The rest of my 2024 is definitely going to be filled with a lot of rest. I need to do some resting. I’m currently getting ready for my Paris show, which is on 17th October. I’m really excited about that. I’ve been doing a lot of writing. I’ve put out six collaborations this year and next year I’m just gonna be prepping for my second project that I’ve been writing all year. I’m really excited to share that and I have a lot of people that I want to collaborate with, both on a production level and recording artist level. I can’t wait to share that with people and show people how much I have grown since the first project.

Listen to Oblongata now: