Be prepared to have her on repeat.
Courtesy of Mapei/Downtown Records
It's hard not to fall in love with a song like "Don't Wait." The song opens with a hypnotic guitar riff over the warm beat of Brazilian baile funk drums, and gives way to a voice that's equally entrancing. ("She sounds like if Solange and Imogen Heap had a baby," said one friend who I played the song for.) Mapei, who was born in Rhode Island and raised in Stockholm, has a voice that's deep and rich, smooth yet slightly raspy, with a raw and emotional quality that stands out in a pop landscape dominated by ice-queen R&B singers. "Don't Wait" is a song about friendship, and love, and letting the ones you care about know what they mean to you, before it's too late.
The 29-year-old premiered the song in early October via Downtown Records, and it quickly caught the attention and love of the internet, taking the top spot at Hype Machine for weeks. A lot of what makes "Don't Wait" really appealing is how rich and varied the global influences are -- which makes sense, given the singer's background. Born to a Liberian mother and an American father, Mapei moved to Sweden with her mother when she was 10, and later spent time in Brazil, Tunisia, and Portugal. These influences all come through in her music, as do the club sounds of Sweden, where she got her start in the underground hip-hop scene. Her first EP, 2009's The Cocoa Butter Diaries, showcased her as a rapper, but now Mapei's gotten over her fear of singing to really communicate what's in her heart. And luckily, it works really well.
We caught up with Mapei in her room at the Ace Hotel during a visit to New York City last week.
It's interesting that you're singing on "Don't Wait," when your earlier music was all rap. Is that more of the direction you want to go in now?
Yeah, I love singing, I love hearing myself sing, you know what I mean? It sounds better to me. Rapping is something I need to do, and singing is something I want to do. So, I want to do more of that.
Why is rapping something you feel like you need to do?
Because I need to get some stuff off my chest and that's the best outlet, that's the best way to do it.
And you're a songwriter, too. Have you written for any other artists?
Yeah I've written a song for a Disney show. It's called "Shake It Up." Someone asked me to write a rap for it, so I was like "Okay, cool." I haven't seen it yet. I just wrote it. But I want to write for other artists.
Who are your dream artists to write for?
I don't know if I could write for him, but I would love to hear Kendrick Lamar do something on my stuff, because I love his voice.
How did you team up with the Magnus Lidehall [the producer] for "Don't Wait"?
He used to rap in a rap group in Sweden, and everyone kind of knows each other, and so we were like, "Let's do this." I was like, "I want to make a minimalistic hip-hop beat and sing over it," and he was like, "Oh, I can do that." And then we sampled baile funk drums in the song and the guitar so it sounds kind of grungy, and then I sang over it and stole a line from my cousin's Twitter.
What's the line?
"Old friend indeed."
That's really sweet. How long did it take to write the song?
Maybe like one hour, and we recorded it in two hours.
Was there someone or something you were thinking about in particular when you wrote it?
It's like how sometimes you fight with your friends, but you really love them and you don't want to piss them off or whatever. I'm a people-pleaser when it comes to my friends, I do everything for them; so when we fight, it really hits my heart. I was just thinking about friends and lovers, and not waiting until I fuck up or something..like, don't wait for life to say what you want to say.
