LISTEN | Elaine on overcoming depression and making her musical comeback

Elaine says she's in a good space now as she makes a musical comeback with the release of her latest single Waiting on You before her debut album release  after a long hiatus.

The neo-R&B songstress who shot to stardom at 19 has had a compelling journey in the entertainment industry. While studying for her law degree at the University of Witwatersrand, she few to the US to sign a licensing contract with Columbia Records.

“There was so much going on. Having your breakthrough during a global pandemic [Covid-19] was insane. I was not with my friends, family or people close to me,” she told TshisaLIVE.

“A lot of the pandemic was home learning, writing exams, recording, learning a lot about this industry. I suffered a lot with my mental health. Depression was something I was struggling with, anxiety, impostor syndrome, the list goes on. It was bittersweet because the world is happy for you. There was a lot on my plate at the time but I'm grateful regardless.”

She's grateful to have had her biggest supporters, her mother and father, who constantly contacted her to check up on her and pray with her.

While she's now gone back to being an independent artist, Elaine said the music she recorded with the label would still be released one day, which is a “testament of how amazing that partnership was for that time”. 

“We had a goal of putting together amazing music and it needed me present. I wanted to be in America because it was always a dream of mine, so I went out there and we were in the studio. It was a dream, the music still lives.”

On why she ended the contract, Elaine said: “It was growth. Sometimes people grow in different directions. I come from an independent background and my breakthrough was independent. It was just myself and my fan base that took it to the top, so our collaboration was me trying to get more resources that I needed to take on a global career and learn the system on a global scale.

“I feel I learnt and so had they. I wanted to continue to build myself at my own pace in my own direction and with my own people. It's also hard being a South African and being so far away from home. It was not a practical situation for a lot of the people who are involved and those are some of the things you need to consider when you are a global artist.

“For me, my business and my independence there were things I valued more from a South African perspective which was not possible from abroad.” 

For August, Elaine is among four women Apple Music is spotlighting on the Alpha playlist which highlights female artists who are history makers and game changers.

For more listen here: iono.fm, Spotify, Apple Podcast