Moonchild Sanelly (born 20th November 1987) is a 36-year-old multi-talented South African female artiste known as the originator and brain behind the “Future Ghetto Punk” music genre, which is fast rising in the South African music industry.
Moonchild has no doubt achieved a lot in her career, turning herself into a household name within a decade and a half after she debuted, a feat many female artists wouldn’t have been able to achieve ordinarily. More to that, here’s how she has been able to build her career and establish her music genre.
Summary of Moonchild Sanelly’s Biography
- Full name: Sanelisiwe Twisha
- Nickname: Moonchild Sanelly
- Gender: Female
- Date of birth: 20 November 1987
- Place of birth: Port Elizabeth, South Africa
- Moonchild Sanelly’s Age: 36 years old
- Ethnicity: Black
- Nationality: South African
- Zodiac Sign: Scorpio
- Sexual Orientation: Straight
- Marital Status: Unmarried
- Moonchild Sanelly’s Children: 3
- Education: Linea Fashion Design Academy
- Profession: Singer, dancer, businessperson
- Famous for: Being the originator and brain behind the “Future Ghetto Punk” music genre
- Moonchild Sanelly’s Instagram: moonchildsanelly
- Twitter: @Moonchildsanel1
Moonchild Sanelly Was Born 36 Years Ago in Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Moonchild Sanelly, whose real name is SanelisiweTwisha, was born on the 20th of November 1987, in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. There, she grew up and attended elementary and high school, before moving to Durban to start her career. She is from a musically-inclined family as her brother is a singer, her mother a hip hop producer while her cousins are dancers. No wonder she was able to combine singing with dancing perfectly.
As earlier mentioned, Moonchild Sanelly, who knew herself to be a brand from the beginning, started her career when she moved from Port Elizabeth to Durban. In Durban, she went to the fashion design academy in 2005, spending six years at the academy, and started performing in 2006, basically doing poetry and hip hop.
Her performance eventually opened an opportunity for her to be making regular appearances on the Gayasi FM radio show on poetry with King Siso. In no time, she began to gain recognition and with her poetry background, she began writing songs, infusing her poetry into her songs. She later moved from Durban to Johannesburg where she got fully involved in music and widened her artistic horizon.
Moonchild never knew what was coming her way when she recorded in the studio with DJ Shimza in one of his EPs, which formed part of Soul Candi’s album. From there, her talent caught Red Bull’s attention (a South African Promotion Agency). Since then, she has been working with Red Bull, performing in their various promotional events, gaining bigger audiences, and gathering fans.
She Made Her First International Appearance At Age 31
As a result of her persistent and scintillating performances, Moonchild had the opportunity to perform at the Sound Festival Primavera in Spain in the year 2018. This marked a great leap for her career, as she was offered another big platform to perform at the opening of the Die Antwoord European Tour, a platform that allowed her tour Europe for a whole month.
She has also performed in many other festivals like The Shoko Festival in Zimbabwe and Coachella in 2019, SXSW in Houston Texas among others. Indeed, Moonchild will still go far in her career, looking at how fast she has been rising since making her debut.
How Did Moonchild Come By Her “Future Ghetto Punk”?
In her quest to carve out a niche for herself that will distinguish her from other artists, Moonchild began to work on creating a new music genre called Future Ghetto Punk in 2007. The genre is a combination of Afro-punk, experimental electronic elements, and edgy-pop with her strong kwaito, jazz, and hip hop background tint.
The new sound is African in nature, a heavy, tough bass side-chained to a heavy, punchy kick with rattling rhythms of light percussions and soft keys cutting through the mix in an overlapping manner, combining the characteristics of jazz, hip hop, edgy-pop, and afro-pop. This new sound is no doubt a 21st-century western groove garnished with African rhythm. All thanks go to her background in music (afro-punk, pop, and jazz), which has really made it easy for her to formulate this new genre.
Since the creation of her genre, she has been working very hard to make her brand known and widely accepted by all, through promotions by collaborating with local and international artists, organizing shows and concerts.
Taking a closer look at her, one will know that Moonchild has definitely created for herself an identity that sets her apart from others in the game. Starting with the color of her hair which is bluish and bushy with dark-painted lips, she seems to be the only South African female artiste rocking this type of hairstyle.
Moonchild Sanelly’s Songs
Moonchild has released two official albums, the first piece is Rabulapha, which was released in 2005, and the second album titled Nudes was released in the year 2020.
Rabulapha (2005)
- Dance Like a Girl
- Red Eye
- Ma Kiss & Pop
- Go Starring
- Cut The Cake ( Feat. Maramza)
- Twitter (Feat. Toya Delazy)
- Mali
- Ndita Ndbambe
- Isdudla
- Rabubi
- Bounce Boy
- Don’t Believe The Hype
Nudes (2020)
- Bashiri
- Thunda Thighs
- F-Boyz
- Weh Memeh
- Newtown Chips (Aramboa Remix)
- Where De Dee Kat
- Boys and Girls
- Come Correct
Which Is The Most Famous Song By Moonchild Sanelly?
She got known internationally with Midnight Starring (which happened to be her first featured song) and Makhe. She has other singles that are also famous and widely accepted by fans worldwide. F-Boyz is a hit song she released in 2017, that narrated a story of how she was duped by a boy inside a car.
Some Of Moonchild’s Collaboration That Gave Her Prominence
Over the years in her music career, Moonchild has been able to collaborate with some local and international artists, which has further boosted her music career and made her music known in the international community.
She has featured in DJ Shimza’s EP, which was her first collaboration ever, She also worked with DJ Maphorisa and featured with other artists in the album titled Gqom Wave. Moonchild has also collaborated with other artists like Toya Delazy, Msaramza, Distruction Boyz, Rude Boyz, ande DJ Tira in various productions. In 2019, She featured in the song My Power, (a track in Beyonce’s The Lion King: The Gift album) alongside Busiswa and Nija.
What Else Does Moonchild Sanelly Do Aside From Music?
Modeling
She has also proved herself to be a model and fashionista. Not that alone, she has gone ahead to put her entrepreneurship to display by establishing her fashion brand (Moonchild Cult Wear), which is fast becoming a big brand patronized by the elites and local celebrities in the country. During one of her interviews, she said her fashion label is just a medium to express herself in the world of fashion, she reiterated that long before she went to fashion school, she has always been making her own clothes at home.
Dancing
Apart from singing, Moonchild Sanelly is also a good dancer, with perfect dance steps to thrill audiences. She has over time proven herself to be a force to reckon with in the South African music scene by creating her own music brand and genre.
