The Hollywood Hair theory, popular on TikTok, argues that an artist needs instantly recognisable hair to hit superstar status – think Amy’s teased beehive or Ariana’s slick ponytail. Lucky that South African singer and rapper Moonchild Sanelly patented her chunky blue braids more than a decade ago; her third album could crown her.
Victorious opening single Scrambled Eggs is an ode to Sanelly’s favourite hotel breakfast and a flash of a well-stamped passport: she recorded the album in Malawi, the UK and Sweden. Sung in both Xhosa and English, Full Moon spins the sounds of Johannesburg and Durban (kwaito, amapiano and gqom) into distinctive, abrasive electro-pop.
Specialising in ultra-femme, sex-positive braggadocio, Sanelly is filthy and sharply funny. Boom pits “broke boy dick” against “rich boy” complacency on a track about independence that sounds like Santigold at a happy hardcore rave. In My Kitchen is icy and commanding, bass bouncing as Sanelly’s demands dissolve into onomatopoeia, while I Love People fuses house with spoken-word for an erotic celebration of a lover who’s “the lick to [her] envelope”.
Produced by Johan Hugo (MIA, Kano, Self Esteem), Full Moon is maximalist, packed with sirens and shrieks and triumphantly rolled “r”s. That is, until the album’s closing tracks: Mntanami poignantly reflects on her father’s upbringing and its impact on her own, while I Was the Biggest Curse treads an increasingly empowered path through frosty beats. “I put my hands in the sky,” Sanelly vows, knowing the stars are well in reach.
