Language
“This is my first album,” MNEK tells Apple Music, “and in the same way that you learn a language, it takes time to figure out how to go about it. It’s something to absorb — literally the first step amongst many.” Already an accomplished songwriting hired gun, with credits on Beyoncé’s “Hold Up,” Madonna’s “Hold Tight,” and Dua Lipa’s “IDGAF,” Uzoechi Emenike uses his own terrain to play with pop templates. From the intimate embrace on the cover to his lyrics’ openhearted honesty, he makes good on his desire to, as he says, “help the fight in normalizing black homosexuality in pop music.” Punchy anthem “Girlfriend” is a classic tale of falling for a taken man, with a crucial twist. “If you sing it as a girl, it’s not a big deal,” he explains. “But when I sing it as a boy?” He takes a dramatic gasp and laughs. But it’s the five-and-a-half-minute centerpiece, “Honeymoon Phaze,” that might be MNEK’s proudest moment. “It’s a song that I really had to fight to be on the album,” he says. “Everyone’s view was that it was indulgent and long and not poppy, but I liked that it wasn’t that. It’s the one song where I’m singing and just going off.”
MNEK's long awaited debut album 'Language' is impossibly good fun, and stuffed full of some of the best pop songs of 2018.
Having contributed to some of the most successful pop of recent years behind the scenes, MNEK finally takes centre stage
An ace songwriter who has worked with Madonna and Beyonce struggles to come up with a decent batch of tunes for his debut LP
Super-songwriter MNEK spreads his wings on solo debut ‘Language’, allowing his personality to shine through on an impeccably-produced album
Part infectious pop, part moody R&B, The south Londoner’s debut offers a multifaceted introduction to his talents