22-year-old RnB artist MzUki makes music for the dreamers. Her music is simultaneously far-reaching and direct; explorative and grounded.
With a new video for her track Miss Yah fresh under her belt, we caught up with the artist herself to chat about how the clip came together, reinventing herself, and what the future holds.
Fresh off the release of her new video for Miss Yah, we caught up with MzUki to chat about artistic reinvention and what the future holds.
HAPPY: Hey, how’s it going? What are you up to at the moment?
MZUKI: Just walked out of the studio. Experimenting with some weird sounds, taking a break to chat to you guys! Hiiiii :)
HAPPY: We’re loving Miss Yah! How does it feel having the track out there in the world?
MZUKI: Yay, thank you! It feels sooooo gooood. It’s the first kind of track since I’ve changed my musician name so feels so good to be able to make a start and share myself with the world officially as MzUki.
HAPPY: Could you tell us a bit about the song?
MZUKI: It’s basically about aligning yourself with want and who you want to be and not allowing things to get in the way of your goals. We haven’t got any time to you miss yah because we’re too busy being about our business. I wanted to create my own anthem for my girls so that if a someone is getting in their head it can remind them to get back in their bag, be about their business and rock her goddess glow.
HAPPY: As you mentioned, you’ve just come fresh off a name change… Why did you feel it was important to reinvent yourself this way?
MZUKI: Yes! It really felt like the time to do something new. I wanted to create an image and brand that was more representative of who I truly am. My name is Serenity and that felt like a lot of pressure to keep all my music super “serene” I mean I totally try and embody Serenity in my life but sometimes we tryna turn up and I feel like MzUki is a better representation of all sides of me. It’s also a switch up on my middle name “Uki” which means moon in Nigerian. So I’m kinda Miss Moon.
HAPPY: Do you feel like working under a new name has allowed you to be more explorative with your music?
MZUKI: Yeah, totally. I can show all facets of myself under this name. MzUki is a multi-faceted being and I look forward to showing all sides to her. I don’t know why I went into third person just then, but we’re sticking with it. lol.
HAPPY: The video for Miss Yah is great too! Could you walk us through how this came about? Who was involved?
MZUKI: Ahh so good. So Miss Yah is the title track to my Spiritual Bitchez EP. So I wanted it to be an ALL FEMALE set. One of my good friends Hannah “HNZ” is an amazing videographer and this was the perfect collaboration for us. We brought in a female DOP, Bonny Scott, who helped too and we got a bunch of girlfriends to come and be in the shoot. GIRLS ONLY. No bois allowed.
HAPPY: We’re picking up heaps of different sounds in your music. Are there any particular artists you’re currently seeking inspiration from?
MZUKI: I’m experimenting heaps with my sound. I’ve honestly been working on music for about ten years, just writing, rapping, recording and trying to find my voice. I’m so grateful this year with the whole “MzUki” shift I have found my stride and look forward to sharing more of who I am. I like all genres and draw inspo from a lot of artists I meet in my day to day life and travels. I travel heaps and like to expand my horizons to gain life experience to put back into my music.
HAPPY: What’s next for MzUki? Any other exciting plans in the works?
MZUKI: Omg YES YES YES! ELON MUSK 2 track EP out 29/3. So excited to have that out! Got a crazy music video coming for it that we filmed in a low key rocketship on some Space X vibes. Elon is such an inspo to me. I love out of the box thinkers and visionaries the most. Non-stop music coming this year though I have so many songs ready for you all! It’s going to be a great year!
HAPPY: Cheers for the chat!
MZUKI: Thankyouu so much for the chat. Love MzUki xx <3
Miss Yah is available now. Watch the video above.
