Elaine<\/a> beams at me from behind a pair of sleek Miu Miu sunglasses. \u201cIt\u2019s a new era, it\u2019s a new vibe, it\u2019s a new BPM, new everything,\u201d she smiles, her white fur coat wrapped tightly around her. \u201cBut I still don\u2019t feel like it\u2019s too detached from who I am. It still feels very personal.\u201dShe looks \u2013 simply put \u2013 like an icon. Elaine has been making dance music. The local singer and songwriter first rose to prominence with her EP Elements<\/a><\/em>. Released in 2019, the project gained attention for its unctuous take on bedroom R&B, and can arguably be credited for ushering in the ensuing wave of the local Nu-RnB scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n While the blistering Afro tech-house of her new single \u201cOne More Dance<\/a>\u201d might seem as far away from Elements<\/em> as you can go, if you look closer you\u2019ll find that Elaine has always been somewhere in the club. She\u2019s featured her voice on tracks by Skyla Tylaa<\/a> and Kelvin Momo<\/a>, but even in her own work, you can find traces of the dance-floor. The distant heartbeat and effervescent synth accents on \u201cChanges<\/a>\u201d wrote from the booth in the corner of the dance-floor, but on this new project \u2013 Elaine goes fully in. \u201cI think it was the reception I got for all the dance records I\u2019d featured on,\u201d she says. \u201cI was like, \u2018maybe I should drive the boat [in this direction]\u2019 So I really wanted to launch myself into it and see what that looks and feels like. I\u2019m having a blast so far.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n But to get here, she made sure to do her homework. \u201cBefore I even got into the booth, I was doing research for, I think, two years for this project,\u201d she says. \u201cSo, a lot of research went into it. A lot of paying my respects to people that have done it before. Lebo Mathosa has been my muse for this era.\u201d Mathosa is a fitting reference \u2013 with her bleached blonde buzz cut and effortlessly cool swag, Elaine is fully exploring the path laid out by her predecessor. Part of that includes studying the iconography of artists like Mathosa, and unlocking parts of herself by playing with these aesthetics in her own context. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s effortless South African swag,\u201d she says. \u201cShaving your hair, dying it blonde. It\u2019s classic SA. It\u2019s all homegrown, but with so much attitude. It\u2019s edgy. It\u2019s young. It\u2019s fresh.\u201d It may have started as homework, but it\u2019s clear from the way Elaine speaks about her dance-floor education that the work has become home.\u00a0<\/p>\n There\u2019s no other way to make a record like \u201cOne More Dance\u201d honestly than to fully commit to the culture of where this sound comes from, and Elaine has fully immersed herself in South African dance music\u2019s past, and present, to arrive at her version of its future. \u201cDance music in South Africa is rooted in lifestyle,\u201d she says. \u201cI was going everywhere. Taking gigs where I usually wouldn\u2019t take gigs. Going to festivals where I was the only R&B artist. Going to clubs in Johannesburg, clubs in the township, clubs abroad. Listening, learning.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The track brings together the Major League DJs<\/a>, who she collaborated with previously, with Mpho.wav<\/a>, and Atmos Blaq<\/a> \u2013 producers who have been pushing the sound of local dance music forward with their evolutions of 3-step and Afrohouse. The result is something that ups Elaine\u2019s BPM, but retains the soulful R&B voice that she is known for. \u201cThat vulnerability never leaves me,\u201d Elaine says. \u201cThat\u2019s really my superpower. I\u2019m always vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n The dance-floor is a historical site of liberation in pop music. It\u2019s a rare space that allows artists to experiment with themselves and play with identity. For Elaine, it was the refuge she needed to realign with her purpose and perspective as an artist. And though she\u2019s fully found her place in the dance music ecosystem, she still treats the scene and its community with reverence. \u201cThe dance community has been so welcoming,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m also just grateful to the dance community for welcoming me and being so supportive. It really has been amazing familiarising myself with that community.\u201d She speaks of it like a polite guest \u2014 but she is no guest here. When I ask her to describe this new era in three words, she laughs before settling on just one: \u201cHomegrown.\u201d Home is, after all, where the best nights out begin.<\/p>\n \n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/texxandthecity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2-1-1-819x1024.png\")
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