Moonchild Sanelly’s teal-blue hairdo is trademarked in her native South Africa, where her sex-positive rhymes and body-positive stances divide the generations. But this party-starter is long overdue more mainstream international acclaim. Until now, the rapper and singer, sometimes in her mother tongue, Xhosa, has often appeared as an unignorable guest on tracks by well-known names, including her spot on My Power, a 2019 Beyoncé tune, and a 2020 Gorillaz cut. More recently, she has flexed hard on collaborations with Self Esteem and Ezra Collective.
Full Moon, Sanelly’s third outing, gives her abundant main-character energy its fullest expression thus far. There’s hustle and smut aplenty here, in the tradition of outre rappers turned pop singers such as Nicki Minaj, but Sanelly’s pointed attitude (“You’re in pain, bitch, cos I’m paid, bitch” – Gwara Gwara) leaves plenty of space for wit and levity. Really, she just wants to do her dance, as one of this album’s most fun cuts demands. Self-reflection and a handful of more pensive cuts make Sanelly a more three-dimensional figure than previously. To Kill a Single Girl (Tequila) is a hit-in-waiting, about how tequila does the lovelorn no good at all. What’s Xhosa for brat?
