French-Cameroonian hip hop newcomer MIKANO, reveals pop-driven, Afrotrap single ‘Silhouette’ released last Wednesday (27th November).
The brand new cut is the first installment from his forthcoming mixtape, ‘Melting Balloons’, planned for release in Spring 2020.
On the meaning behind the song, Mikano explained: “It celebrates the female beauty in all its diversity. The word ‘Silhouette’ entails an outline with a featureless interior, we can see it’s a woman, but we can’t see her skin colour”.
Entirely produced by up and coming Parisian producer Sutus, the single mixes a pop-driven afrobeat melody with trap-tinged beats; “I wanted to create a genre-blending track, unifying different music cultures, the African element with British and American styles,” clarifies the young rapper.
Growing up in cities as diverse as Abu Dhabi, Cairo and Amsterdam, Mikano – who now resides in Paris – is the perfect example of a Third Culture Kid whose music has been dramatically influenced by his rootless past. Inspired by artists from different genres such as Agnès Obel and Alabama Shakes, Mikano’s first two EPs ‘No Devices Found’ and ‘Blind Man Dreams’, have seen support from some of the most prestigious French music publications including Tsugi and Rolling Stone.
Most French speaking rappers struggle to find fame outside France – even though the country is the second biggest market for hip-hop. It is time for a French, English speaking rapper to break the rules, and Mikano’s ‘Silhouette’ has the potential to set the young rapper on the right path for international success.
Check out for video for the single below…
