Melxdie follows up viral single “Girls R Better” with her new EP, Checkmate
Toronto, ON-based singer-songwriter, Melxdie burst into the music scene in 2019 with the release of her collaboration with Tory Lanez, “Summer Love.”
As time passed, she released “Girls R Better,” which quickly went viral on TikTok, engaging over 21 million views and has been used in more than 2000 videos.
Melxdie unveiled her debut EP, Checkmate, on May 20, 2022, featuring five tracks. She also unveiled a visual album to accompany the release.
She shares,
“For the EP Visual, Stefanie Eby, the creative mastermind behind the visual, was able to create a story that referenced a lot of my real life experiences while tying the contrast of sounds together to make it blend seamlessly.
I really wanted this visual to hold a deeper meaning, you could say, it’s almost like a glimpse of where I come from, and where I’m going. We even used a lot of my closest family and friends to vplay different characters that represent different aspects of who I am, which was a really special component for me.”
Listen to Checkmate below and learn more about Melxdie via our mini-interview.
First off, care to introduce yourself to our readers?
For sure! My name’s Melxdie, pronounced like “Melodie.” I’m a singer-songwriter, but some would call me an entertainer because of my presence on Tik Tok as an actor, dancer, and “astrology mami.” I was born and raised in Toronto and have had a love for music all my life.
I grew up in a Peruvian and Lebanese household heavily influenced by my Father’s salsa-singing music career. He was widely known across Peru alongside his brothers. This passion for music surrounded me all my life and motivated me to follow in his footsteps as an artist.
You have unveiled your debut EP, Checkmate; what was the writing process like for this release?
When it comes to the writing process, I would say it was an evolutionary process for me. Throughout my writing sessions, I felt like I was redefining myself and was establishing so many different thoughts and pieces of who I am through all of the music and as a creative.
Looking back, it was a huge opportunity for growth because I felt scattered and like I was splattering paint on the wall with all of these ideas regarding writing.
I’m in a phase where I’m more clear on who I am and where I’m going. If it weren’t for getting the time to experiment freely and push myself out of my comfort zones sound-wise, I wouldn’t be where I am now. I feel very secure in being okay with not having “one sound.” I always got down on myself because I didn’t like sticking to one genre, but I know many people do, and I thought I was setting myself up to fail.
Now I’m in a place where I want to honour who I am, and I’ve learned to accept myself because I like to switch it up as I’m constantly evolving, and I think my audience can expect a lot of that in my next releases too.
The EP follows your previous releases, “Girls R Better” and “Summer Love” how has your sound changed between these releases?
Like I said earlier, my sound is constantly changing and evolving as I evolve. I think transitioning from those songs into my latest EP was a way of me introducing all dimensions of sounds I was experimenting with at the time, and as I continue to grow and make music, my sound will continue to evolve also!
You have also unleashed a visual to accompany the EP. How did you come up with this idea?
After listening to all of the songs on the EP at first, I thought it was a little daunting to find a way to make them all tie in together because the sounds were so different. When I created this EP, all of the songs were coming from a place of vulnerability, and it was the first time I felt like I was stepping out of this “box” I put myself in.
In saying that, I wasn’t 100% sure how to piece them together. I’m thankful, though, because the director and I have worked together for a while. Because she understood me as a person and a brand, we were able to create something that represented a lot of the little things about me that might help my followers get to know me a little better.
What’s next for you in 2022?
Oh, man! We got so much music in store for 2022.
I have big plans and ideas and cannot wait to share them with you. I’ll be releasing my next EP this year, and I already got the next EP in the works, and I’m just so excited for y’all to hear my evolution, and hopefully, you can find pieces of yourself in it as well. I want to tell my story through my music. I’m trying to find that balance of making hit songs while also keeping them true to my life experiences. All I can hope for is that people can find some comfort in that.