Resilience and Redefinition: Mikhalé Jones Leads the Way In the Path Less Travelled
South African neo-soul and alternative musician and dancer Mikhalé Jones has exemplified divergence and resilience since her debut album It Is What It Is, carving out a name for herself while defying convention in the noble pursuit of sustaining what used to be a fantasy growing up.
Before the strobe lights of performing on stage and the blitz of fame, Mikhalé Jones grew up on a far-flung farm in Jozi, her acumen for music and dancing incubating in isolation with the assistance of her entertainment-friendly family. From recollections of herself believing she was already a star to singing with the family during road trips, Mikhalé conjured up with fondness the very things about her upbringing which not only pointed her towards the current path she’s walking but also heartened her to pursue her dreams with whole-hearted conviction.
“I grew up on a farm on the South of Johannesburg, and it was slightly isolated which gave me a lot of time to myself. That’s where me being a curious kid and experimenting with these things came into play. My grandfather had a camcorder, and I loved singing and dancing, plus we had a jukebox. Our big house gave me space to explore and figure out what I liked and what I didn’t.
“Even when I look at my childhood footage from back in the day, I’m always in front of the mirror, changing outfits and asking my mother to take pictures of me. I’ve always had a natural pull towards music, in any shape and form. Eventually, my mother put me in dance school because that’s something I actually wanted to do. I loved music, dancing, and the musicality of dancing as well,” she said.
Mikhalé Jones | SUPPLIED
The 28-year-old recently dropped Too Many Promises, her first project since 2021’s It Is What It Is. Speaking about the inspiration behind the craftmanship of the opus, Jones divulged that she stitched the project together using samples of her own broken relationship with her previous record label. Paralleling the estrangement to that of a toxic human relationship, Mikhalé also revealed that she used the project as a means to take accountability for enabling the system she was against by remaining in it as well as taking back her power moving forward.
“The inspiration behind the album is the feeling I got from being left out and behind when I got signed to a major label. So many things were put on the table and I was told that international things were going to happen, and unfortunately, most of those promises never came true. I was very disappointed like anyone would be. Because, initially, you get sold the dream and the possibilities of what your career will be after signing. But then once that’s done, you find yourself, two years later, unable to release because another artist is being prioritised.
“So, because I experienced that, the motivation for this album has always been about my comeback. The album itself speaks about a relationship. and this relationship is in juxtaposition to my relationship with the label. It’s about meeting this special someone who tells you that they are different and unlike the rest, things you believe about them. Then somewhere down the line, when you bump your head, you become a villain because you want to fight back. For example, I ended up going to social media and posted about how labels are not it and that artists should stay independent and yet I was in the system myself. So just like how relationships are also a two-sided thing, you can point at your partner for being toxic, but you staying and contributing to that relationship allows for the toxicity to continue,” Jones said.
Mikhalé Jones | SUPPLIED
On Sunday, 25 August, she performed at Artistry in Sandton, a performance she savoured as she conceded that it had been a long time since she last regaled her fans at that level. She mentioned that as an indie artist, she was aware of the responsibilities she now had to keep herself afloat whilst pleasing her followers, and because of this, Mikhalé revealed that she planned to organise more performances like the one she did at Artistry as well as dropping visuals to accompany the motion.
Speaking on her influences, Mikhalé credited the nascent Y2K era in shaping her musicianship, which shapeshifts to conform to whatever phase she might find herself in at a particular time.
“The influences in my craft change with the phases that I’m in, but for the most part they all come from one era: the early 2000s. The music from that era is the one I’m mostly inspired by, and it’s very evident on Too Many Promises. Not so long ago, I was comparing albums. I was listening to Ciara’s Evolution, and it’s so similar in that it’s grungy hip-hop that pulls the male attention but with lyrics that attract the woman’s attention. It’s music for everyone to enjoy as well as those with a palette for dance,” she said.
The singer-performer lamented being only one of the few of her kind to exist in the industry, and vowed that she would devote herself to being a pioneer within the chasm that exists between hip-hop and R&B.
“I don’t feel like I fit in anywhere, and I feel like that’s a concept I’ve struggled with my entire life. I struggle to belong, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But if I could make it make sense to everybody else, I’m somewhere between the R&B and hip-hop space. But even so, I don’t feel like I belong to those spaces either entirely. I am a mixture of both. You can see it in the music, the way I dress, and my performances.
“Unfortunately, in South Africa there aren’t many who look like me and do music like me. Everyone feels like you have to do what is mainstream and popping to be an artist in this industry, especially if you look like me. So I’d like to be an example of breaking stereotypes and breaking a specific mould for success. Success is subjective, after all. I believe in leaving a message of not hindering yourself when it comes to making my music.” she said.
Mikhalé Jones | SUPPLIED
She handpicked “Dribble Dribble” from her latest album as a song she enjoyed making the most for its contrasting texture lyrically and sonically.
“For now, the song I’ve made that I love the most is “Dribble, Dribble”. There’s something in the production that sounds like a warm hug, even though the content is toxic. There’s a sexy and dark yet confident energy that makes you feel good. I was feeling the lyrics when I wrote them. It was a song where I wasn’t afraid to be myself even though I wasn’t my best self,” she said.
Moving onward, she teased getting herself into the house space while expanding on the techniques she used to execute R&B music.
“I’d like to explore house music that sounds a lot like Kaytranada’s because it still has hip-hop and R&B elements, yet it remains music you can dance to. In my world, it’s as good as amapiano music within the R&B space. I’d like to see what can come out of this. It might stay in studio as an experiment though.” she said.