In 2018, the persona that is MAUIMØON pronounced himself upon the scene, though (né) Donald Otim Ngoga had already been releasing under the artist name SOULCHYLD via Soundcloud. We’ll mostly concern ourselves with his later, more prominent iteration, though.
MAUIMØON’s a powerhouse. That much has been evident from the go when he dropped his debut singles “Too Real” & “Drive” more than half a decade ago. Going by how dynamic his sound has been since then & his prolific rate of output, he’s clearly hacked how to guard against artistic complacency. And that’s no small feat.
Throughout this time, he’s been intentional about framing himself within the Alté/R&B-adjacent space. And it only makes sense based on his influences: He’s often remarked about his incorporation of Afro-pop & hip-hop into his craft. Though it’s never come up, and it’s maybe not even conscious on his part, there’s also elements of doo-wop prominently dispersed across his catalogue. Regardless of what portion of his influences are an intentional undertaking, he’s not ceased to adventurously iterate his sound with every project he puts out. And it’s all paid off in form of his growing stream-count, landing on formidable playlists, & multiregional airplay on significant platforms like BBC Radio 1. It’s even more encouraging how he’s not slowing down, going by his latest single “SAYSHEDO”
On top of that, he has a new album, aptly dubbed “For the Love of R&B Vol 1”, coming out this week on Thursday the 3rd.
You bet we’ll dig in & put out a review of it next week!
