Elmina, a Nigerian-born singer based in Lagos, had a childhood that was full of art and fun. Dance parties, karaoke nights, and old-school jams with family and friends drew her attention to music at first. “There was never a dull moment growing up,” she recalls. “our walls were always alive with sounds”. Her breakout hit, Jam, released in 2022, exemplifies her love for music and a fun-filled life.
A Soul singer, Elmina taps from a variety of genres in her music, including R&B, Soul, Dancehall, Pop, and Afrobeats— her eclectic influences and growth attributed to years of formal music study and hands-on experiences. “I’ve come to realize that experience teaches invaluable lessons,” she says.
Elmina uses music to concretize seemingly abstract issues, pitching songs like her 2023 single I Still Want You with relatable themes of love and desire. In her latest, Desire and Don’t Be Late, she recreates these romantic experiences even more intensely.
“Baby, this your body/ Will make a girl crazy/ This your body/ Will make a girl lose her sanity”, she sings in the opening verse of Desire. In a society where women are expected to be passive about their sexual desires and appreciation for the body of their male partners, Elmina flips the coin. For Elmina, desire should be expressed in no uncertain terms, social mores be damned.
If art is an accumulation of an artist’s experiences, then Elmina personifies this. Growing up in Lagos, she was introduced to the junior church choir. It wasn’t a decision of her own freewill, but the decision willed her independence early on in life. This independence surfaces in Don’t Be Late.
R&B meets Amapiano in Don’t Be Late, as Elmina’s voice glides smoothly over the bouncy groove and log drums. While the song maintains her lover-girl posture of Desire, she becomes more aware and confident of her needs, desiring to know how committed her lover is to the relationship. “Over the sea/ Would you come searching for me?/ Into the night/ Would you come looking for me?” she poses in the opening of the song.
Couple dances are usually a moment for bonding and expressing love. Elmina recognizes this as she proposes to dance with her lover, her voice full of longing yet beckoning him to reciprocate the amorous gestures: “See I’ve been waiting, how long will it take?/ Too many shots and now I can’t see straight/ Just wanna dance with you, don’t be too late”.
Identity discovery, Elmina seems to agree, is a long journey. And this informs her conscious attempts at tweaking and varying her style on each new song, regardless of thematic semblances. “While I’m still discovering the Real Elmina, I’ve come to embrace the journey,” she says, musing over her evolution.
