MEI introduces us to her unique blend of experimental hip-hop and spoken word on her newest record titled “Pennies”. The lyrically charged single sees the London based artist dwell on the doubts everyone faces through the course of this thing called life. The soundscape is far from the usual and mixes offbeat layered musical elements that is somewhat hard to define on paper and it’s way better to experience. The title is a spin on the old English saying, ‘a penny for your thoughts’, laying her mind bare for the listener as she searches for the truth behind a fog of doubt. A self-proclaimed ‘raucous and chaotic’ stream of consciousness, the brooding dissonance of the backdrop is mesmeric as MEI’s percussive delivery intertwines with the beat.

BIO: MEI’s was first introduced to the soul music that influences her sound when she began singing in a church choir at the age of 11, but it wasn’t until a decade later, studying music with her future collaborators, that her passion truly blossomed. Given the name MEI (Chinese for ‘beauty’) by her Mandarin teacher, unaware of the importance it would have in years to come, she went on to sing backing vocals alongside Brian Eno and Karl Hyde on Later… with Jools Holland as well as supporting Little Simz at her Roundhouse Rising Festival with LVNA last year. MEI is now taking centre stage for her latest project but with a newfound network of creators around her. From Count Counsellor’s Tiny Factory and From Concentrate collaboratives to her new label, Lapsang House, she may finally be stepping out on her own but there’s a small army of belief in her talent, eager to share her music with a new audience.

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