Sanelisiwe Twisha (born 1987), known professionally as Moonchild Sanelly is a South African musician and dancer. She is known for her signature blue-coloured hair and her self-created music genre called "Future ghetto punk". Originally from Port Elizabeth, the singer first came into limelight in the

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

poetry and music scene before relocating to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

, where she has continued her musical career. Her music has reached audiences beyond South Africa's borders, playing in festivals such as SXSW in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

and

Primavera Sound Primavera Sound (commonly referred to as simply Primavera) is an annual music festival held in Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, Spain that takes place between the end of May and beginning of June. The first edition took place in 2001 in Poble Espanyo ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. In August 2018, she went on a European tour with South African hip hop group

Die Antwoord Die Antwoord (, Afrikaans for "The Answer") is a South African alternative hip hop group formed in Cape Town in 2008. The group comprises rappers Watkin Tudor "Ninja" Jones and Anri "Yolandi Visser" du Toit, a male/female duo, and producers ...

Early life and education

Moonchild Sanelly was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. She was born into a musical family, with her brother being a hip hop producer, her mother a jazz singer, and her cousins

kwaito Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, during the 1990s. It is a variant of house music that features the use of African sounds and samples. Kwaito songs occur at a slower tempo range than other styles of h ...

dancers. She moved to

in 2005 to study fashion at the Linea Fashion Design Academy and stayed there for six years.

Career

In 2006, Sanelly started performing in shows at

Durban University of Technology The Durban University of Technology (DUT) is a multi-campus university situated in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was formed in 2002 following the merger of Technikon Natal and ML Sultan Technikon and it was initially known as the Durban Instit ...

with a key focus in poetry and hip hop, although she did not actually call herself a poet for a long time until she noticed people's reactions. She featured regularly on a weekend show on Gagasi FM, called ''Poetry with King Siso''. In mid 2020, she signed a record deal with Transgressive Records. In March 2015, she released her studio album ''Rabulapha!'' with Transgressive Records. ''Rabulapha!'' earned her a nomination at the 22nd Annual South African Music Awards for Best Alternative Album. Red Bull discovered her music through an EP she was featured on with DJ Shimza, which was eventually a part of the ''Soul Candi'' album. In 2019, Sanelly was featured on Beyoncé's The Lion King: The Gift album in the song "My Power" along with

Busiswa Busiswa Gqulu (born 8 November 1988), known mononymously as Busiswa or Busi, is a South African singer-songwriter and poet. Born in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, South Africa, she gained public recognition for her feature on DJ Zinhle's song, "My Na ...

and Nija. Towards the end of 2019, she dropped her 4 tracks mini album project titled ''Nude'' EP. She made a notable contribution on Our Culture, first track off Zingah's 2020 album. In 2020, she was also featured on JazziDisciples album, ''0303'' in the song "Askies" and later in "With Love to an Ex", from Gorillaz' seventh studio album '' Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez''. On 29 June 2021, her single "Yebo Teacher" was released. She was scheduled to host the TV show ''Madness Method'' on BET. She made an announcement on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

of her feature on the FIFA 2022 soundtrack. On 1 October 2021, she announced her single "Demon" with Sadnightdynamite. The song was released on 4 October 2021, with accompanying music video. In February 2022, Sanelly began her career in adult entertainment. In late March 2022, she announced her second studio album ''Phases'', which was scheduled to be released on June 10. In May 2022, her single "Cute", featuring British rapper Trillary Banks, was released. Her second studio album ''Phases'' was released on 10 June 2022.

Artistry

Her music fuses elements of experimental electronic, afro-punk and edgy-pop with hints of her strong kwaito, hip hop and jazz background.

Public image

Moonchild Sanelly is seen as a sex figure and has never been scared to flaunt her body or speak about sex. She gives out sex advice on Valentine's Day through her social media accounts. In an interview with Basha Uhuru, she called herself "the president of female orgasm".

Business ventures

Moonchild Sanelly has her on own clothing label called Moonchild Cultwear. She owns a Naked Club and has made it clear that it is not a brothel.

Personal life

Sanelly is a mother to three daughters. She was a victim of rape twice in her life, with one having been committed by her uncle. Sanelly is

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

and uses

Xhosa language Xhosa (, ) also isiXhosa as an endonym, is a Nguni language and one of the official languages of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Xhosa is spoken as a first language by approximately 8.2 million people and by another 11 million as a secon ...

in most of her songs.

Discography

Studio albums * ''Rabulapha!'' (2015) * ''Phases'' (2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanelly, Moonchild Living people Xhosa people 21st-century South African women singers 1987 births Women in electronic music South African electronic musicians Amapiano musicians