Mysie | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Elizabeth Marjorie Florence Sempa [1] |
| Born | 1995 (age 29–30) |
| Genres | |
| Instrument |
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| Years active | 2013–present |
| Labels | |
Elizabeth Marjorie Florence Sempa (born 1995), also known as Lizbet Sempa or Mysie, is an English singer-songwriter. She won the Rising Star Award at the 2020 Ivor Novello Awards.
Elizabeth Marjorie Florence Sempa grew up in Croydon [2] [3] and Streatham, South London. [4] [5] Her grandfather was an Ugandan jazz musician and member of the group Kampala City Six. Sempa trained in Acting at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA), graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 2017. [6]
Under the name Lizbet Sempa, she gained initial attention on Soundcloud in 2013 around the age of 17, self-releasing her first tracks "Epiphany", [7] "Mistakes", [8] and "On These Hills" and the EP Indirect Thoughts. This was followed by the singles "All These Things" in 2015 [9] and "Deep Inside" in 2016. [10]
Feeling "pigeonholed" into making a certain type of music, [11] Sempa rebranded to Mysie, a nickname of her middle name Marjorie. She debuted the new moniker with the 2019 single "Rocking Chair" [12] and the EP Chapter 11. [13] Other singles released that year include "Fall Away", "Doves", "Sweet Relief" and "Heartbeat". [14] That year, Sempa was selected for The Great Escape Festival's First Fifty. The singles "Gift", "Bones" and "Patterns" followed in 2020. [15] In addition to being mentored by Fraser T Smith, Sempa was awarded Rising Star at the 2020 Ivor Novello Awards. [16]
Sempa's next EP Undertones [17] and the singles "Seven Nights" [18] and "A Thousand Miles" were released in 2021. She made her Live at Leeds debut that October. Her fourth EP joyride was released in 2022, [19] as well as the titular single, [20] "birthstones", "fade" and "gin + juice". [21] Sempa supported Corinne Bailey Rae on her 2022 tour and was once again selected for The Great Escape Festival's First Fifty. [22]
In 2023, Sempa began shifting her public image, experimenting with the singles "CTRL", [23] "PLAY" and "Double Dutch". She also featured on "BLU" by Italian artist La Niña. [24] Her debut mixtape Controlla (stylised uppercase) was released in 2024. [25] [26] The accompanying singles were "Little Too Late", [27] "PHASES" and "Kitty on Top". She supported IAMDDB on her European tour. [28]
Growing up, Sempa's parents played the likes of Sade and Alicia Keys in the household, [29] while school and living in South Africa gave her an appreciation for indie artists Radiohead and The Killers and Afropop's Brenda Fassie respectively. [3] Listening to the radio station Magic 105.4 in the car left a significant impression on Sempa as she discovered Duran Duran, 10cc and Lionel Richie. [30] She joined a dance group called Wet Wipez as a teenager, through which she became familiar with J Dilla, Thundercat and Flying Lotus. Early in her career under the name Lizbet Sempa, she also recalled admiring the likes of Georgia Anne Muldrow and Hiatus Kaiyote in her youth. [31] "Deep Inside" (2016) was compared to Adele and Laura Mvula. [10] Regarding her debut EP Chapter 11 as Mysie, she drew upon Calvin Harris and Anderson Paak. She named Jay Kay from Jamiroquai one of her heroes. [14]
Sempa cited Empire of the Sun, Tame Impala and Mac DeMarco as influences [32] as well as Sampha, Moses Sumney, Disclosure and Rosalía. [2] Other artists she has named include Cookiee Kawaii, Yaeji and Sasha Keable. Sempa fuses a wide range of genre influences in her music, including UK garage, Brixton's dance venues, house, Jersey club, baile funk, indie and electropop. [33]