Meet Chelsea Como, a musician born and raised in Miami. Known for her soft like engaging vocals on prominent dance tracks ‘Waves’ and ‘Until Tomorrow’. Chelsea is currently enchanting listeners of Afro House as she marks her ground on the scene.
I’ve been given the amazing opportunity to sit down in sunny Valencia and discuss with Chelsea her love for making/writing music and divine femininity.
I like to write music that’s not only uplifting, but for black women, from a perspective of happiness, love and believing. I don’t feel limited in my writing.
I like to romanticise on things that make you think of someone even if you’re not with them anymore but acknowledging the beauty of that moment when you were with them.
When I write music it’s supposed to uplift or inspire me, make me dream or make me remember amazing experiences that I’ve had. So maybe that’s better for Afro House because when people are in a club listening to it, they want to be uplifted. It has a spirituality to it not a religious standpoint but like what’s the beauty of life? The beauty of love? The beauty of a woman? That’s what I would like to see more of within our community.
So, you’ve mentioned how you like to write when you’re in a good place, has there been times where you’ve felt quite low and want to express yourself through writing too?
Yes, in the beginning. Before I went to Italy, I would write a lot of sad songs, but it wasn’t from heartbreak, it was from losing a family member. I think it’s a good process. Adele is an artist who I like who does that. I like the album 21, as an artist we should be true to what we’re going through. Although, if every time I hear your music and it’s at a frequency where it’s not so high to me it’s like ‘where’s the growth?’
Musically you can talk about love over and over again because love is eternal. When I feel that vibe, I like to write because I believe people can connect with me more and I feel like I am sending out something that is needed.
Which song would you say was written from a place when you weren’t that happy?
‘Until Tomorrow’ was a bit of a sad song, we were in the middle of a lockdown and with covid. Although I was still able to turn it into something positive ‘even if the sky should fall, I’ll hold your hand through it’ it guarantees listeners with that reassurance.
It’s funny you say that because when I first listened to ‘Until Tomorrow’ I didn’t feel sad. I felt quite solemn, or perhaps a range of emotions it being a love song and the progressive sound. I felt quite calm and at peace.
Thank you! I mean it is different to ‘Waves’ and ‘Flames’ I felt lyrically I went somewhere else, and I usually don’t. I think I had been timid or afraid to write something different. I usually have easier and catchier stuff but ‘Until Tomorrow’ lyrically it was advanced.
When it comes to my songs, they’re like my babies. I’m very sensitive about my art, so if I don’t think it’s ready or I don’t know how people are going to receive it, I’m always careful about who is going to do the remix.
How does that process work, so with ‘Waves’ did Enoo Napa reach out to you to do a remix?
I remember saying this song has so much life to it, what is the sound that we would like? Jacko brought up Enoo Napa, I had heard his mix on the song ‘Conqueror’ and I’m a big fan of Jackie Queens. I was like yes! Let’s get him to do it. I sent him the track and he changed it into something, like wow! When he made it, he was like ‘what do you think?’ I was like can you bring the vocals back in? It was supposed to end after the second hook and so when he brought it back in and the way he did it, it was so good. I like to stack my vocals and on the track you can hear I’m singing counter which is not usual in Afro House. At the time when ‘Waves’ came out, Afro Tech was very big and vocals wasn’t in. I’d say ‘Abiro’ was one of the biggest songs at that time, there’s the chance and then you had the soulful sound.
Did you expect ‘Waves’ to get the traction it did?
I thought it would be nice to have a mix from Enoo and we’ll see what happens and then it blew up! I can’t speak for him, but we did not know ‘Waves’ would blow up, but it was a result of the massive support from Black Coffee.
Explain to me your songwriting process?
I write my songs without an idea of a beat. I just write, I think because the songs are melodic and they’re kind of pure. I’m not singing on a track; I never sing on a track. I always write my stuff with keys and then I add a beat. That’s why I think lyrically and melodically it’s so unique. The vocals can stand on its own, you can literally take these vocals 10 years from now and do a new treatment to them and it will work because they weren’t written to a beat of a certain time.
It’s very important because I think vocalists in Afro House are not as valued as they can be or used as much as they can. The elevation of the music can come from, let’s say 80% of the song is just the track and we put a vocal on there but if that vocal could bring more then you’ve taken the song to another level. Which is why with ‘Waves’ till this day people still play it.
It is very timeless
That is the biggest compliment because I’m a big fan of timeless artists and music. When you look at artists such as Sade, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill vocally their music is timeless. If you put another mix over their songs it is going to work. It’s not like you just want a song to work for the current time. The message of the song, the melody, the way the song is written, it is meant for a purpose. There is form to a song. I do love chance and I think that there is room for that, but it shouldn’t only be that in Afro House. We want this genre, this form of music to be timeless and not just periodic. There are a lot of singers who have the potential to do that I think we have to make room for them.
As an Afro House listener, I’m always curious in knowing what people perceive the genre as because since I started listening to it from 2015 till now, I’ve seen the birth of several sub genres – What is Afro House to you?
I’m actually doing a paper on it, so different people have ideas of what is Afro House? I know with South Africans they have elevated Afro House so much but then when I speak to people from New York they would say they had Tribal House and they had Afro House before South Africans were able to take it to where it is now. When I was introduced to South African house, I was listening to Bucie and Black Coffee, I got into ‘Turn Me On’ & ‘Superman’.
It’s interesting because with Black Coffee and Bucie’s project I wouldn’t say it has the elements of what Afro House is today. If anything, to me it was two South Africans coming together to make house music.
Exactly. My question now is, are we naming Afro House correctly? What is it going to be like in 5 years? When ‘Waves’ was written Afro House was Afro Tech and that kind of music we don’t consider that to be Afro House anymore. The term Afro House has become loosely used. We can say the same with house music because at one point it was music played at warehouses but then when you play house now it’s not that sound. So, I think we need to become more clearer but for me when I heard ‘Superman’ it’s a modern R&B vocal singing about something which is romantic not struggle, timeless with a musicality that I wasn’t hearing in house music. I was very drawn to it; I would play it over and over.
With afro house in general, It predates what we know now. What has happened is that it’s grown in multitudes in engineering the way the drums are done it’s not only tribal African drums it’s techy drums with the rhythm of Africa
I’ve noticed a shift in Afro House from Soulful and Deep house towards a darker techy sound
Also, away from vocals. I think they were trying to move away from the branding of soulful house as it had already peaked in the 90s so if you weren’t a big name there wasn’t a lot of room for you to be discovered. So I think the newer DJs were doing techy and tech house was in so they applied what was in with an African interpretation which was unique and is beautiful to see. I just want to see the next level which includes vocalists.
Which producer would you say works very well with vocalists?
Other than Enoo Napa who is one of my favourite producers, I would say Caiiro. I’ve actually met him before, last year he’s so humble, very musical and just really had his own sound that works very well with vocalists. The first song I heard from was ‘Black Child’ but then I really got into the album he did ‘Agora’ and even though a lot of the tracks doesn’t include vocals I’d get into the music. It feels like a trance.
I would love to see a collab. I find it so perplexing that you haven’t been to South Africa yet. The fans are waiting!
I have so many people who send me things and will tell me how much they love music and they do ask, ‘When are you coming to South Africa?!” It has to happen.
It would be amazing if you performed out there
Oh that would be a dream! The best thing that I have ever felt, as a creative, as a song writer, as a musician is when they sing the words to my songs and it’s even better when a DJ sings the words.
Speaking of DJing, I see on socials you DJ. How did you get into that?
I learned how to DJ years ago using serato. I’m a big Erykah Badu fan and I saw that she DJs, so the origin had nothing to do with house, when I started, I was DJing to all types of music.
How did you get into music?
I got into music because it makes me feel alive. I find it therapeutic, and it allows me to feel like I have purpose. It’s something I would do for free. If tomorrow I won, the lottery I’d still be making music.
I got into music as a child, anytime I had a rough day I’d go on the keyboard and just play. I remember when I was a lot younger my mum would put on music I’d go on the table and my mum and aunts would be like ‘Go Chelsea! Go Chelsea!’ I was also in the kids’ choir at church and that’s how I picked up rhythm.
With the image of Chelsea Como, you’re someone who is an advocate for divine femininity, and you own your sexuality. How do you navigate through the music industry under the distinguished male gaze?
As a woman, I do feel the male gaze is there but it’s like if you’re a rose they’re going to look at you and they’re going to desire you. You have to stand and say, ‘I know’ and that’s it. Don’t let it become a thing. This whole idea of how one needs to be non-sexual so that I can be in rooms with men is just no. I know who I am, I know what I’m coming to do. I’m not here to take anything away from anyone. My music is going to define where it belongs so that’s where I’ve gotten to. If you’re an intelligent beautiful and talented woman and you’re sexy, play it all up.
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