Ndivhuwo Elaine Mukheli (born 2 April 1999), known mononymously as Elaine, is a South African R&B singer and songwriter from

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

. While studying law at the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

, she

self-released Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pr ...

her debut EP '' Elements'' in September 2019. The EP reached No. 1 on both the national

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

and

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

album charts, making her the first independent female artist to do so.''Elements'' was certified Platinum by

RISA Risa may refer to: * Risa (given name), a feminine given name * Risa (Star Trek), a fictional planet * Radioiodinated serum albumin * Recording Industry of South Africa * Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer analysis See also * * * Rise (disambiguation) ...

a year after its initial release and was nominated for Best R&B/Soul Album at the

26th South African Music Awards The 26th Annual South African Music Awards were held on 3–7 August 2020. Unlike previous years shows, the ceremony was broadcast as a five-night event, with the first four episodes being 30 minutes long, while the fifth one was a 45-minute grand ...

. Elaine was subsequently signed to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

in December 2020.

Early life

1999–2018: early years

Ndivhuwo Elaine Mukheli was born in

on 2 April 1999. She started singing at age six and participated in the school choir and various talent competitions while growing up. In 2014 she received a gold medal at the 8th World Choir Games in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, Latvia. While attending high school, Mukheli began writing her own music. She began studying law at

in approximately 2018, and stated in November 2019 that she was part of the university's Golden Key Honour Society.

Career

2019–present: ''Elements''

Elaine uploaded her debut single, "Slip Away" onto

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

in February 2019, before officially self-releasing it in April 2019. Her follow-up single, "I Just Wanna Know" was released in August 2019. Elaine was the first South African artist to be part of

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

's Radar artist program alongsid
Taiylor Manson
. She released her debut EP, '' Elements'', on 29 September 2019. The 7-track EP was produced by Clxrity alongside Elizee from South African hip-hop duo Elizee and Malachi and was described by ''

OkayAfrica OkayAfrica (stylized as okayafrica) is a digital media platform dedicated to African culture, music and politics. Founded in 2011 by Vanessa Wruble and Ginny Suss as a sister site to The Roots frontman Questlove's Okayplayer, the site has become ...

'' as "a mellow blend of

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

and R&B with incisive explorations of adolescent love." The EP was successful on streaming charts, helping Elaine clock one million accumulative streams within two weeks of its initial release. She was deemed as

's New Artist Spotlight after ''Elements'' reached No. 1 on the album chart in South Africa. At one point in February 2020, all seven songs from ''Elements'' simultaneously placed in the top 10 of the national Apple Music R&B/Soul songs chart. The EP, spawned the single "You're The One", which also topped both iTunes and Apple Music single charts. The single earned Elaine both her radio debut and first number one on the

Metro FM Metro FM is a national radio station in South Africa owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation. The station broadcasts on FM Stereo as well as the DStv Bouquet Channel 801. Telephone : History The station started broadcasting in O ...

Top 40, as well as several weeks atop both the 947 Top 40, and KFM Top 40. Her debut music video for "You're The One" was released in early April 2020 and gained approximately 100 thousand views within 24 hours of its initial release. As of late April 2020, Elaine continues to "dominate" South African music charts. ''Elements'' was certified Platinum by the

Recording Industry of South Africa Recording Industry of South Africa (RISA) is a trade association representing the interests of major and independent record labels of South Africa. Located in Randburg, RISA is responsible for running the annual South African Music Awards (SAMA ...

(RISA) in July 2020. The EP was also nominated for Best R&B/Soul Album at the

. Elaine was signed to

in August 2020. In November 2020, she was nominated for Best Female Southern Africa at 2020 African Muzik Magazine Awards. On 12 May 2021, she released a single "Right Now ". On 24 March 2022, she released her highly anticipated single "Shine". She first teased the song on

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

and

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

. In September 2022, Elaine had released her latest single, “Deja vu”.

Artistry

Elaine's musical style regarding

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

has been described as trap-soul (a blend of

and

music),

alternative R&B Alternative R&B (also referred to as alt-R&B, indie R&B, hipster R&B, dark R&B, emo R&B and left-field R&B) is a term used by music journalists to describe a stylistic alternative to contemporary R&B that began in the mid 2000s and came to pro ...

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music. The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhythm ...

, and

neo-soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...

. She has cited R&B singers such as

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...

and

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

as her biggest inspirations. Elaine's musical style has been compared to that of

Tsakani Mhinga Tsakani "TK" Mhinga (23 November 1978 – 27 February 2006) was a multiple SAMA award winning South African R&B singer, arranger and songwriter. In her lifetime she unquestionably occupied South Africa's R&B throne and was one of the country's ...

and

H.E.R. Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson (born June 27, 1997), known professionally as H.E.R. (pronounced "her", an acronym for "Having Everything Revealed"), is an American singer, songwriter, musician and actress. She has received several awards includin ...

, as well as

Jhené Aiko Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo (; born March 16, 1988) is an American singer who embarked on her music career contributing vocals and appearing in several music videos for R&B group B2K. In an effort to promote Aiko and cultivate a following for he ...

and

Summer Walker Summer Marjani Walker (born April 11, 1996) is an American R&B singer. In 2017, she signed to Love Renaissance and Interscope Records. The following year, she released the mixtape '' Last Day of Summer,'' which spawned the single " Girls Need ...

Discography

Extended plays

Singles

Awards and nominations

References

{{Authority control 1999 births Living people People from Pretoria 21st-century South African women singers South African singer-songwriters Contemporary R&B singers Neo soul singers South African Venda people University of the Witwatersrand alumni Columbia Records artists