Karayib Focus: Meemee Nelzy, mystical glow
NB: this is an updated version of an article I published for the first time on myinsaeng.com in February 2020.
I don't remember exactly how I started listening to Meemee Nelzy... But I think I discovered her on Bandcamp through Mano D’iShango’s friends list in late 2017/early 2018.
Music crush at first sound
Her latest release at that time was her “DeEPly Rooted” EP for which I couldn't have just one favorite track because I enjoyed every song a lot. I bought the digital version of this EP after listening to it back to back a few times. Let me remind you that back then I didn’t buy much on the Internet, so it shows how much I liked it. I decided to continue to discover her discography backward.
Music versatility
As with Stevy Mahy, the versatility of her groove surprised me. Lyrics in French, English, and Creole. Jazzy hip-hop soul ka melodies. Experimental projects with electro music. Music harmony that I didn't know anything about. In my defense, I was already into K-pop when she released her first album in 2009.
Music Odyssey
I hesitated to use the term "music mystic"... Listening to Meemee Nelzy is almost a spiritual experience. Her songs showcase a voice that transcends time and genres. We hear the hip-hop R&B vibe of the 90's, we feel the soul of Guadeloupean traditions, we observe the Caribbean spirit of openness to the world, we live the journey of a woman between two centuries revealing herself. She produces her albums and you can feel it in the subjects she deals with and the coherence of what she experiences.
Expressing her joie de vivre, her longing for serenity, her rage, her culture, her love, her pain, her identity... No matter what mood you are in, Meemee Nelzy has a song or two to sublimate this emotion. When I listen to her discography, I feel like I'm watching a time-lapse film of the birth of a majestic flamboyant tree: a tree with strong roots, a powerful trunk, and branches that form a crown facing both the earth and the sky.
It took me about a year and a half to write this Karayib Focus. I wanted to publish it for her birthday (#teamCapricorn) but, well... My spirit wasn’t in the right vibe. #funfact I wanted "Sizièm Kontinan" from the "Deeply Rooted" EP to be the theme song of my Karukerament podcast. I didn't dare ask her at that time, but I did ask her when I launched Karukerament EV. And she said yes right away. Anyway, she's a talented and generous artist.
Sometime before I published this post in February 2020, I had watched an interview with Meemee Nelzy saying she was in a phase where she no longer felt like making music. The sadness in her voice even got me hesitating to publish this tribute to the art that seemed to no longer bring her joy. I thought it’d be inconsiderate. And then the lockdown happened, the pandemic started. She did a 20-minute Instagram live with a compilation of her hits... The flame seemed to come back. About a year later, her single "Pa Fèmé Zyé Aw" [“Don’t Close Your Eyes”] released in September 2021 is presented as a prelude to the album "Antidote". The Meemee Nelzy mystic operates once again with this mixture of neo soul/ka/hip-hop/jazzy styles, with this airy atmosphere anchored in the earth, with this mysticism that shines and leads us towards the light.
Guadeloupe has a treasure: artists who celebrate our humanity and uplift our spirits with each music release. Their words reveal our pains and heal us with the sweetness and tenderness we deserve. Listen and share over and over again. Put some Meemee Nelzy in your lives. #streamcaribbean
Bandcamp IG : @yumiempress
Photo by @blxckdreadshot