Elsy Wameyo Shares New Single 'Sinner'

Nairobi-born, Adelaide-based singer, rapper and producer Elsy Wameyo has shared her new single “Sinner,” a blistering track that puts Wameyo's virtuosic MC chops on full display.

The song comes on the heels of a momentous 2023 for the rising artist, who supported Genesis Owusu across Australia, appeared at Falls Festival and Lost Paradise, and took home six awards at the South Australia Music Awards for Best Studio Engineer/Producer, Music Video, Song, Solo Artist & Release of the year for her debut EP Nilotic. She capped off the year with Triple J Unearthed's Artist of the Year accolade.

“Introspection brought light to a darkness I never wanted to unveil, the consequences of a munificent heart that had nothing left to give,” Wameyo shares, “My spirit man asleep exposed me to a world that very quickly incapacitated me physically and spiritually. I became a product of my environment and gave in to my flesh, embracing the wickedness and ignorance of its existence. I chose me. I understood that light shines brightest in the dark, so the more I wandered, the closer I would be to returning. Life will forever be a fight between the good and the bad. I call it the sinner's condition. In the end, only the strong will survive.” 

Watch the cinematic visual directed by Wameyo & Danny Skilton below, which finds her in various church settings and processions, juxtaposing shots depicting her as a goddess and a churchgoer.

Born in Nairobi and hailing from the Nilotic tribes of Kenya, Adelaide-based Elsy Wameyo embraces her cultural heritage through her musical offerings. Her self-produced 2022 debut EP Nilotic was hailed as a game-changer and praised by The Guardian, Acclaim, NME, Fashion Journal, & Complex for its incisive lyrics and impressive production. A bilateral journey of spirituality and personal growth, the EP sought to claim back, fix and uproot the world's evil while processing frustration and sadness through music.

Informed by an Adelaide upbringing and singing in church choirs from an early age, Wameyo posed questions to her heritage and the equity of societal structures as she unraveled her self-identity across six self-produced tracks. The EP's success propelled her on to tours with Grammy award-winner Printz Board, Maségo, Sampa the Great, Genesis Owusu, Ruel and Adrian Eagle, among others.

Honing her production over the course of 2020, the Black Lives Matter movement had a profound effect on Wameyo's writing. In an interview with NME, she shared “It's one of those things where as much as it's happening in the US a lot of these things are happening in Australia – Australia just knows how to hide it.”

“Sinner” was born from writing sessions with Kenyan producers Wuod Omollo and Polycarp Otieno, and kicks off what is sure to be another watershed year for the singular artist.

Photo by Holyziner