Elsy Wameyo is a force to be reckoned with. Earlier this year, the Nairobi-born, Adelaide-based artist released her debut EP, Nilotic, which she self-produced from her home studio – despite having no production experience. “I had to flex, man,” Elsy laughs. “I am definitely a very determined person.”

Elsy had always toyed with the idea of producing, but it wasn’t until she started putting together her EP during the 2020 lockdown that she decided Nilotic had to be hers and hers alone. “I didn’t want people to take any recognition for the album because, for so long, we have always worked for the other,” Elsy says. “I wanted it to be 100 per cent by me so that no one could take that away from me.” The decision was also influenced by Elsy’s desire to capture her cultural connection to the Nilotic tribes of Kenya. “I found that when I went into the mixing session with my producer, there were times where I was trying to explain things that he would never get,” Elsy says. “And that’s simply because he doesn’t understand the culture – he’s never lived in it. It’s really hard for someone else to see your vision from your perspective.”

In a nutshell, the six-track EP is about Elsy’s relationships – with her culture, her faith, and herself. She wrote the album’s title track (and its spoken-word introduction, “The Call”) after researching prominent fellow Nilotes like former US president Barack Obama and actor Lupita Nyong’o. “A lot of strength came from knowing that I came from the same place as those people,” she says. “If they can do it, I can do it.”

Not all of the research that Elsy conducted was positive, though. While writing the EP’s closing track, “Hunger”, she delved into issues like youth homelessness, drugs and violence – things she’d seen first-hand while living in Kenya that, in her eyes, were the result of government failings and members of “the very top of the hierarchy”. The song, while difficult to write, expresses Elsy’s hunger for Kenya and Africa to be better. “I really want to live to see the day where Africa is on top,” she says. “Because we are the source of life.”

Another challenging song-writing period involved a bout of writer’s block that lasted seven months. “I couldn’t write anything good, so I had to take a step back. I went to Melbourne and spent some time with God and with myself for about a month,” Elsy says. “It was in that downtime that ‘River Nile’ was manifested. And then I came out and wrote the EP.” Elsy describes “River Nile”, Nilotic’s opening track, as her “revelation moment” – her acceptance that she’s not completely in control of how her music or her life plays out. “I’m not the one who’s really sailing the ship. I’m just a passenger on board, and it’s up to me to enjoy the ride,” she says. Elsy explores a similar theme in “Promise”, which details her faith that God will, eventually, deliver on his promises to her.

Of all the songs on Nilotic, the only one to receive input from other musicians was “Sulwe”. Elsy was jamming with her trumpet player and one of her keyboard players when a powerful industry player came to visit the rehearsal space. In an attempt to impress the visitor, the trio nervously continued to play – and “Sulwe” was born. “In that moment we created the production that you hear now. I tried to translate that sense of eagerness, fear and excitement in a way that I could relate to,” Elsy says. (In the track, you can hear Elsy say, “She’s here, she’s here, she’s coming,” in Swahili.)

Elsy also took inspiration from Lupita Nyong’o’s children’s book, Sulwe. “Sulwe, in my native tongue, means ‘star’. That book talks about the beauty of a young Black girl who is not comfortable in her skin,” Elsy says. “I took some ideas from that and how I’ve looked at myself as a Black girl, struggling to see the star within myself. I’ve watched a lot of Black women go through that same challenge of not liking their hair, their skin, because the world says it’s ugly, so I really wanted to shine that light on us for a moment.” Elsy chose to sing the track in Swahili and her native tongue, Luo. “I really wanted to build that barrier and have it as our own – if you don’t understand it, then it’s not for you.”

Elsy’s self-assuredness is impressive when you consider that she is just 23 years old. As a young girl, she would sing at church, listen to Adele with her father and “sneakily buy music off of iTunes”. After noticing her talents, Elsy’s dad took her to Adelaide’s Northern Sound System, a live music venue, recording space and support hub for young musicians. “That’s where I met a bunch of artists, producers and people who were actually making music,” she says. “With no intentions, I used to just go in and sit, watch and listen.” One artist she watched record was Tkay Maidza. When Tkay eventually moved on from the studio, Elsy stepped up. “I kind of fell into her gap and I started making music with the producer that she was working with,” Elsy says. “I was surrounded by a lot of artists and producers and writers, and they saw something in me that I didn’t, so everyone nurtured that.”

Elsy has refined her abilities over the years, and compares the transformation of her sound to a fire. “When it starts it’s just this little flame. Now it’s set ablaze and it will never stop. I think that’s probably the best way I could describe the evolution. It’s an evolution of truth.” The next chapter of Elsy’s evolution is a national tour that kicks off in August – and she can’t wait to share the experience with her audience. “I wouldn’t want anything else but for people to simply be joyous. I go by a saying: singing to inspire the living.”

This story comes straight from the pages of issue 109. To get your mitts on a copy, swing past the frankie shop, subscribe or visit one of our lovely stockists.