Interview: Chikaya | LOUD Magazine
Posted on: 04 May 2020This article was first published in the second edition of LOUD Magazine, 365Bristol's dedicated music publication.
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Chikaya
Catching up with Chikaya: ahead of her first-ever appearance at Loves Saves the Day, the Bristol-based vocalist chats musical inspirations and her genreless approach.
I first interviewed Chikaya two years ago, when she performed live on Noods Radio for International Women’s Day. As before, she’s friendly, laidback and takes the time to catch up before our interview begins; we talk (and laugh) about how, for both of us, Noods was our first experience of radio, and we discuss more recent projects. We also chat about time spent outside of Bristol, where Chikaya offers an interesting thought: “Bristol’s always changing, but even though it’s evolving all the time, it never loses its sense of character and individuality. There’s always something new happening that keeps it fresh, isn’t there?”
Chikaya recorded a live session with BBC Introducing in the West earlier this year
Bristol’s constant evolution has no doubt inspired Chikaya. Since our first meeting, where, she says, she performed nervously on-air (you wouldn’t have known, mind), she’s released a new batch of material and supported Mercy’s Cartel on tour. Chikaya was also selected as one of BBC Introducing’s 2020 Ones to Watch by Radio 1’s Huw Stephens. She’s grown, and people are noticing. It’s no surprise – Chikaya has a certain allure; from her futuristic, violet visuals to her electronic, other-worldly sound. But Chikaya prefers not to attach any concrete labels to her sound, as this is where, musically, she feels most free.
“I used to always say [my music] is cosmic trap, and it still has a lot of trap elements, like the rolling hi-hats. But in terms of the actual BPM of trap, it’s definitely evolved,” she explains. “It’s still cosmic-” she pauses. “I think that is the perfect word to describe my music because that’s what I aspire for with my music. It’s a very ethereal type of word, and it’s a limitless word: cosmic means vast. And therefore, there’s a freedom in my music to explore my sound, my style. If you have a genre-less style,” she continues, “then it’s like you have no limits on what you can do and where you can go.”
Adopting trap’s commitment to deep, hard-hitting atmosphere, Chikaya’s electronic-led sound layers oozy, glossy melodies with pared-down, punching beats. Yet whilst her instrumental curates something transcendental, Chikaya’s lyrical subjects are often rooted in reality: “I seek inspiration in social situations and my personal life,” she explains. “My friends, my family - my loved ones: whatever we’re going through, we all go through it together.” Take ‘New Wave’, Chikaya’s most recent single (since our interview, she’s released two more, ‘Stargazing’ and 'Indigo'). The most energetic single of Chikaya’s discovery to date, ‘New Wave’, details a period of personal growth.
“'New Wave', from the lyrical point of view, was written in 2018,” she says. “I was in a very positive place. I was feeling like chapters were closing, and I was growing as a person. Sometimes we have to unlearn habits and traits because they hold you back,” she continues. “You have to lose those to grow and to improve.” ‘New Wave’ is about the happiness you feel after this process, and how the process can peak and trough.
Chikaya is not from Bristol, yet the city has played an integral part in her development as an artist. “Bristol is a great city to find your feet,” she says, as we chat about the city as another key source of inspiration, “because it has got this chilled, laid back vibe to it. I think it enables people to grow in their own time.” Not only that, but Bristol’s different musical communities, compounded by their collaborative and supportive nature, Chikaya explains, contributes to a city-wide “domino effect” when it comes to musical inspiration: “going to Bristol, on any given night of the week, you’re going to be inspired because you can guarantee you’re going to be witnessing music that is going against the grain.”
Armed with a brand-new single and a recent live session with BBC Introducing in the West, it seems Chikaya’s 2020 is off to a flying start, and she seems to be taking it all in her stride: it’s an attitude explored in ‘New Wave’, after all. Talking more about the track, Chikaya says it’s rooted in “letting your troubles disappear” and “taking things slow.” In fact, taking things slow is something, Chikaya admits, she is “constantly” having to remind herself of: “everything happens exactly when it’s meant to – I believe that. And I do believe that I’m on the right path. And so, taking it slow is basically just so you don’t trip up over yourself, over your doubts – and that’s something I’ve overcome.”
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