Pretoria pop singer Ryki hopes to take new stardom in her stride

A lot of people you meet these days crave fame. It's like a mojito for the ego comprising two parts constant attention and three parts adulation with a splash of hate.

The desperation for that kind of cocktail is not something you get when meeting Pretoria-born singer/songwriter Ryki.

"I never really thought I was good enough to be signed so I just thought I would end up making music," she mused, as she discussed what led her to a career in music.

Despite having sung and performed since she was a child, Ryki had always thought, perhaps because of self-doubt or salt-of-the-earth modesty, that her path did not lead to stardom.

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"After school I thought I would be a producer. I've always sung in competitions, and wrote, but I never thought I would break into the music industry," she said.

Fate had other plans for her. Shortly before she turned 18 she recorded some vocals for a friend's band. The band submitted the song to Universal Music, which was not particularly moved.

But one thing the Universal people did enjoy was Ryki's voice and she was signed.

A little more than two years later and her music has found itself all over the radio and music channels. To build on that momentum she has released an eponymous EP.

"I like that it's mainstream but also not. It's quite a challenge to find the balance between something that was mainstream pop but also true to me. I'm still figuring out how to find the balance," she said.

One can see the struggle play out on the EP. Much of it has a distinctly Major Lazer circa Peace is the Mission vibe, a kind of bubble gum, Caribbean-type of sound.

Songs like Insomnia and What Could We could easily slot into mainstream charts among the Ariana Grandes of the world. Every now and then, however, the tone will get a touch darker.

Wait With You, with its heavier bass lines and slightly more downbeat attitude, hints that there might be a bit more beneath the surface without revealing whether there is.

Watch the video of Ryki's song Please Try

"When people ask me what my sound is I feel confident in saying that it's just my voice. I like so many genres so the ones I want to stick to are house and hip-hop-influenced sounds and acoustics," she said.

Those influences are all in her music but have been softened to suit the vessel carrying them and that is not a bad thing.

Often people are disparaging of pop music because you look super edgy when you rattle off the names of death metal bands that use the glockenspiel, but pop sells in obscene amounts so someone must like it.

Ryki falls into this category: she's unlikely to be popular among people who tell you the back story to a B-side of Joy Division, but that is not her target market.

Ryki is like torn jeans. We all enjoy them now but in a few years we probably won't.

Something tells us that by then she will have moved on.

• Ryki is available on Apple Musicand other streaming services.

• This article was originally published in The Times.