Moonchild Sanelly is a beacon for sexual empowerment. Her new EP, Nüdes, encourages an unshackling from societal expectations. “This EP is really about liberation and owning it,” she shares from Johannesburg, “owning your sexuality, knowing you’re a bad bitch.”

To date, this bad bitch energy has landed Moonchild a number of major collaborations with artists such as Die Antwoord, Gorillaz, Diplo and Wizkid. She was additionally a part of Beyonce’s recent Black Is King project. “My ultimate dream was working with Beyonce, which I wrote down for 10 years,” she says, noting the experience was “just another validation, where your ultimate favorite star in the world sees you as another fucking star” and proof that “dreams are possible, everything is possible, and the world is your motherfucking oyster.”

Atop being proud of the body you live in, Moonchild asserts the importance of where you come from. “Where you come from,” she says confidently, as she helps power African music and expression’s unprecedented global surge, “is actually your magic to get to the world. I’m glad to be one of the ones that are holding the flag high, proudly South African in my native language.” She honors her roots by always singing and performing in her native Xhosa and English.

During her recent tour with Die Antwoord, Moonchild describes a pivotal moment. “That was the most magical realization,” she remarks emphatically, “every single packed stadium filled with white people who were oppressed, looking at me... as freedom,” Acknowledging that every place has its problems, Moonchild saw the opportunity to shift the narrative.

This narrative shift is also demonstrated in her conversion of sexual violation into inspiration. “Being liberated is something that you owe to yourself,” she declares, “because whether you’re in a track suit or a g-string, anyone that feels entitled to your body is going to violate it, so why not own it with pride and strength.” She affirms that the EP is a fight for yourself, a reminder of your courage, and a celebration of the power you hold. “I stand for it,” she continues, “I am about it and I live for it because I have been violated. I feel like I had to learn the lessons from being violated to be able to speak from a point of view that’s not from observation. Therefore, if I speak from having tasted it, then I relate more because I can describe the taste instead of what I think it tastes like.“

For Nüdes’ artwork, Moonchild collaborated with leading photographer Trevor Stuurman in Johannesburg, who also snapped her for this editorial. The photoshoot evoked many emotions on set, resulting in a raw moment of Moonchild crying. “That’s the most memorable,” she recounts, “because I’ve never cried on set. I literally saw what we were all fighting for in that one picture. I actually saw the power in the picture of where I’m going and how far it’s going to be.”

With the current state of the world, everyone has reacted to isolation differently. Sanelly has found calm in the chaos, seeing the important balance between the two. She is eager to get back on stage and to meet her new team at Transgressive Records, but is grateful for this time of rest to become “even more rejuvenated and empowered to go and fuck shit up.”

Sanelly’s passion is infectious, inspiring those all over the world to love their sexuality, where they come from, and their dreams. She leaves us with advice for her 15-year-old self: “Yes, you are who you think you are. Yes, what you believe is going to happen. Yes, you are definitely good for not believing them for telling you that you dream too much. Yes, you are going to be where you think you’re going to be. And yes, you are the girl you think you are.”

We’ll conclude with the confidence the “you” in referral is not only a younger Moonchild, but any of us who need a reminder.