Time and Work: Singer Moneek Leverages Experience and Eyes The Prospect of Becoming a Recording Artist
If a polyglot in the linguistics of music existed, the best definition would be the very existence of Monique Hendricks, mononymously known as Moneek. A polyhedric talent that incubated in classical music, she is a songwriter, a session and backing vocalist, and a professional performer with a decade’s worth of experience in the industry.
With movie score contributions and international tours under her belt, the ascendent South African canary is now set to make her mark as a recording and performing artist, with her already in studio whipping up her first offerings this December and for 2024.
With a background in classical singing, Hendricks worked her way through the contemporary music scene with her know-how. A go-getter vocalist, Moneek had no mentor to hold her hand through the process, which led her to funnel all her energies into putting in the spadework needed for her to understand which components to balance to produce an MO, which has gotten her voice thus far.
“I feel that as a singer, you always need to continuously grow and progress. There’s never a stopping point in your creative life. For me, I didn’t necessarily have a mentor, but I did have a person who encouraged me to pursue classical singing since it’s a brilliant foundation to build from as a singer. My classical training helped me improve my singing and my approach, so it was important. It taught me discipline because it’s something that takes years to know. If you want the best out of your music, you need to put in the time and the work,” she said.
A product of a family that loves music, Moneek cited that her musical influences were culled from the eclectic taste of her household as a collective.
“It’s difficult to pinpoint just one person whom I admire; a lot of musicians do it, but it’s hard for me because I’ve got a lot of influences to pick from. Most of them came from home. I’m the baby of the four kids at home, and growing up, my parents and siblings used to listen to a whole wide range of genres. My dad was into jazz, my mom listened to gospel, my brother was heavy on R&B, my sister was more into pop, and my other sister listened to alternative rock. So, I don’t have a specific person who inspired me because I have a lot of different musical influences,” she said.
When all is said and done, Moneek hand-picked country music as the space she desired to put into her test tube in the foreseeable future.
“I would love to experiment on country music, amongst other genres, but for me to do that, I’ll have to first build up the confidence. But as a genre, I have a thing for it, and I think it’s very beautiful,” said Hendricks.
Moneek stressed the importance of remaining consistent to stay on top of her game as a singer and a vocalist. Comparing singing to training the body, she illustrated the vitality of remaining ready at all times.
“When it comes to the craft and improving it, it’s all about working every day. Your voice is muscle because that’s what’s needed for the voice to be the way it is when it passes out your throat. It’s no different from your body, as when you go out in the morning for training and to keep in shape. That’s how you take care of your craft as well. It can be something as simple as singing or working a song a day or doing vocal warm-ups and exercises so that you’ll always stay prepared at all times,” she said.