‘McCartney flew me around the world for a 15-minute gig’
Stella McCartney flew her around the world for a 15-minute gig. Here’s how it changed the life of 23-year-old Adelaide hip-hop artist Tkay Maidza.
You performed at the Adelaide Fringe with Baker Boy in February, but I believe your last concert pre-COVID was overseas, correct?
My last one was in Copenhagen in March. I was touring with a rap act from the USA called Princess Nokia, which was going to be a 20-date tour around Europe. We did six of them then we had to fly out ASAP back to Australia, because that’s when COVID really broke out.
Besides losing most of that tour, what other plans has the pandemic affected for you?
In some ways, the slowdown has been great because it means I can look at my [music] project and my life a lot more. But what’s unfortunate – and this is a first world problem – is the fact that I’m in Adelaide, because there’s not a lot here. [laughs] But at the same time, there’s so many other people in much worse places.
Your debut album Tkay was released in 2016. How do you look back on that time?
It was pretty hectic; I had so much anxiety and stress at that time. I almost feel like I didn’t appreciate as much because there was just so much going on in my head to see what was happening – or to even act on it, to know what to do next. I felt a bit frozen, to be honest.
How did you resolve those feelings?
When I started working on [2018 EP release] Last Year Was Weird (Vol. 1), that felt like a new beginning for me. But to really reach that point where I’ve accepted myself was when [2019 single] Awake came out. That was when I really felt more comfortable with who I am, and this year more than ever, I’m living in my skin and just being, as opposed to worrying. I’m watching my back a bit less than I was before, and the reason why I did this [EP] trilogy was because I really wanted to reconnect with who I am and what my goals were.
You’ve worked with fashion designer Stella McCartney on a few occasions; she even asked you to re-record one of your songs, right?
She specifically asked me to change the words to [2016 song] Tennies to “Stellies”, so I made a special version just for her, for her campaign. And then last year she invited me to come to Milan for Fashion Week, which was amazing. Her team keeps in touch and offers really cool opportunities whenever there’s new things to do, and I feel really fortunate for that.
How did the Milan gig go?
I was meant to play 30 minutes, but when I got to Tennies – which wasn’t even the last song – everyone came on stage to dance, including Stella. It was fever pitch – a peak moment – so we thought, ‘Why don’t we play the song one more time, then get off the stage?’
How do you think about something like that: being flown around the world to play your music for 15 minutes?
I woke up the next morning crying because I was so grateful. Especially when you think about [Stella’s father] Paul McCartney, and that campaign she was bringing out for Fashion Week was based around The Beatles and the Yellow Submarine. That was even more surreal, because she was honouring her dad, who’s a musician god, basically. The idea of me being from Adelaide, and I just started rapping a couple of years ago, and now I’m here performing for a prestigious celebrity. It’s insane. [laughs] And then I come back home and my cat is puking on my carpet.
Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 2 is out now via Dew Process/Universal.