Mayaeni

Mayaeni (pronounced Mah-yay-knee) is a singer-songwriter.

Mayaeni
Birth name	Mayaeni Strauss
Born	Detroit, Michigan
Genres	Rock Pop Soul
Occupations	Singer-songwriter Actress Model
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar
Labels	Custard Records (2008–10) Roc Nation (2012–2018)
Website	mayaeni.com

Early life

Mayaeni was born in Detroit, to a Sierra Leonean mother and a Jewish father.^[1][2] Her father was a guitar player himself, who has worked with Carl Carlton and Jimmy Ruffin among others.^[3] Mayaeni has a brother, musician D. Alie of the hip-hop band United States of Mind.^[4] Through her father Mayaeni came in contact with a wide variety of music ranging from reggae to Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix.^[5] She started recording her songs by the age of twelve and after finishing high school she moved to the United Kingdom and lived in a youth hostel while studying dance and working under the table at clothes markets in Camden.^[5]

Career

Following her stint in London, she moved to New York where she started performing in open mics,^[5] recorded demos for other artists, and recorded a self-titled album with producer Shaun Fisher.^[6] While touring in Japan for her album she also gained herself an endorsement contract for Glad News Clothing, a local designer brand.^[5] In early 2008 she co-wrote 5 songs with Toby Gad, while later in the year she signed a development deal with Custard Records.^[7] She was featured in the Target/Converse "One Star" Ad-Campaign of 2010.^[5] In early 2011 she co-produced her EP "Cold Love" with guitarist Steve Caldwell^[8] while in September her song "Broken Glass" was prominently featured in the CBS smash hit Hawaii Five-0, (Season 2, Episode 2).^[9]

In late 2011, she signed a contract with Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Her song "Nothing Inside" with DJ Sander Van Doorn (co-written with Justin Parker of Lana Del Rey's "Video Games" fame) hit No. 1 on Cool Cuts, the DMC Buzz Chart, and the Beatport Overall Chart in June 2012.^[6] Performed for the first time at Ultra in Miami in March in front of over 20,000 people,^[3] "Nothing Inside" became a breakout 2012 summer hit in numerous countries, including the Netherlands Top 40.^[10] BBC Radio 2 added "Nothing Inside" to its playlist in June. In late 2012 Mayaeni signed a contract with Jay Z's label Roc Nation.^[11]

She made "Black Jeans", a Pepsi/Complex Media release, in late 2014.^[12] The song was selected as part of Pepsi's Pulse Artist Spotlight Program.^[13]

In early 2016, Mayaeni released her "Basement Kid" mixtape Vol 1, covering songs of J. Cole and Jay Electronica.^[14] She described the project as an effort to honour her past, when she recorded her own songs over other artists' instrumental tracks.^[15]

Discography

• "Mayaeni" EP (2005)
• "Mayaeni" (2007)
• "Hesitation" (2008)
• "The Right Way" (2010)
• "Cold Love" (2011)
• "Basement Kid" (2016)