INTERVIEW: MADAM3EMPRESS on new single 'Some Type Of Way' and finding empowerment through vulnerability: "Vulnerability is a strength because it's hard to do it."

Interview: Jett Tattersall

MADAM3EMPRESS, real name Shanae Masters, was born in Sydney to a South African family and has been inextricably entwined in music since a child. With a background in gospel and jazz music, including a period studying the saxophone, she released her debut single ‘Come On Over’ last year.

Last month she released her third single ‘Some Type Of Way’, a lush soul-R&B track which is irresistibly entrancing, with Masters’ superbly warm and emotive vocals set against a backdrop of beguiling beats. Celebrating the discovery and acceptance of your feelings, Masters says it is the most vulnerable and also strongest song she has written.

With her insightful and empowering lyrics, MADAM3EMPRESS is shaping up to one of this country’s most inspiring young artists and we recently caught up with her to find out more.

MADAM3EMPRESS hello, it is so lovely to chat with you today. Before we get into it, can you talk me through your delicious stage name MADAM3EMPRESS. It's a name and a heart, where did that come from?
You know what, I got asked this question the other day and I fumbled a bit because I haven't thought about it in a long time. But I've come to this, MADAM3EMPRESS is leaving no room for doubt. Don't doubt the strength, the power, the woman the anything. It's this back to back two strong words. After madam, you might doubt it, but then it's Empress and there's no doubt!

I love that! Congratulations on your new single 'Some Type Of Way'. Speaking of power, there's a lot of strength in this song, with a little softness as well. You wrote this about the absolute power of vulnerability. can you talk me through what inspired that for you personally, because I know there's a lot of social barriers that are attached to that as well?
Yeah, there's heaps of social barriers. I grew up in a South African household and I think I speak for all those from an ethnic background that if you show vulnerability, that is a sign of a weakness. We come from a lineage of parents and grandparents who just lived to survive. They didn't have the opportunity or the blessing I should say to delve into their feelings. I remember when I was younger, I would be sad about a boy or something and my mum's like, ‘suck it up!’ And so in my adulthood, and it's not even just in my household growing up, it's a universal thing, vulnerability is constantly seen as a weakness. Growing in to myself and becoming a woman and going in the dating world, I quickly realised, ‘hey, it's taking me a lot more courage to admit my feelings than it is to bottle them in’. Why is that? That doesn't make sense. And then I realised that vulnerability is a strength because it's hard to do it. It's harder to do and you need more strength to do so, if that makes sense.

Absolutely. And you mentioned bringing it out in the dating world, do you think that's also a tool we learn as women, when talking to other women, like we'll all open up to an extent, but there’s still that absolute vulnerability?
’Some Type Of Way' definitely explores vulnerability in a romantic sense. And you know, a lot of music does and because we romanticise romantics. And when it comes to being a woman, if I'm going to be honest, I really have to check myself constantly, especially in the music industry, where there are few women, and we are fighting big, big battles. It’s important to be authentic and genuine when we show support to one another, and be vulnerable in admitting that I may feel a type of way, I may feel a type of way towards you but we can work together. Vulnerability and self awareness come hand in hand. [Vulnerability] definitely exists in other realms of life, not just the romantic.

You mentioned being in this industry and having to check yourself and of course, it's no secret that it's savage out there for female artists, particularly those who are soloists, such as yourself. Women are constantly getting pitted against each other, they're always made to feel like there's not enough room. So they have to claw their way to the top. And by doing that, there's this notion that they have to take someone out in the process.
Yeah 100%. We live in a man's world, and particularly the music industry, it is built, has been built by men. And it's been deeply ingrained in us that there's only one spot. I talk about this with my manager all the time, and I love that I can constantly have these conversations with her. She is such a powerhouse and inspires me, she's a big part of checking myself actually. The music industry is built so that there's only space for one woman. But that's just the lies that they've told us. And I truly believe there is genuinely space for everyone. But so often we feel like we have to compete against each other because they make us feel that way. And so when I say checking myself, when I'm feeling that way, I check myself and say, hey, this is not actually it - I'm fighting the systems that have built this into me.

That leads me straight on to 'Come On Over', which was your track that is an ode to women who are unafraid to speak their truth and celebrate their sexuality it was a real refreshing song to come out. Can you talk me a little through your creation of that one?
Essentially, I was at work, I was working at a bar at the time. This girl was like ‘I'm going over to this guy's house, I guess I'm his booty call’. And I was like, no - he can be your booty call. And she just laughed about it, but I always thought about that. And I just was like, you know what - I'm going to come out with a bang. And I'm going to write a song about being confident in that and owning what you want, making it classy and sexy all at the same time. And it can be elegant, and it can be beautiful. I just wanted to write a song that's really pushing that movement because it's something that I believe in - I believe in women expressing themselves and feeling comfortable in that.

Beautiful. It was such a satisfying mantra to hear, so thank you for that. I want to hear about your musical background because from what I hear, you took piano singing and saxophone at jazz school. Please talk me through that, because that's an impressive collection right there!
So in primary school, we had a band and I decided to play the saxophone. I was already doing piano lessons, because my parents wanted me to do it - I actually wanted to play the drums but they said I had to learn piano first. And then when the time came I could pick another instrument, I ended up picking the saxophone because two of my cousins played it. When I was in Year 6 there was a school of jazz out in Rouse Hill, which is near where I grew up. There was a jazz instructor there, and he was like, ‘hey, I need you to sing for me’. And I sang for him, and he was like, ‘never play the saxophone again, you have to sing!’ Then I just started doing singing lessons in my actual saxophone lessons with him, because he was so intrigued. 

That's beautiful. Do you still play?
I haven't picked it up in a hot minute (laughs). I did during last year’s lockdown because I was at my parents house, and the instrument was there. But I have been thinking of getting it again and making some hooks with it. The saxophone is an incredibly hard instrument to play, and if you don't practice, your mouth gets really weak. And it's actually quite painful. So it's going to be rusty but… I've been thinking about it!

I say go for it. Also, how powerful would that look on stage, you come up, take the mic and then swing the saxophone from your back is just like playing your own sax solos. That's a goal! Now, you're clearly one for not just allowing yourself to be vulnerable, but embracing others to do so as well. Was that possibly something that was missing from the music you were listening to when you were growing up, that encouragement to be vulnerable?
No, it wasn't missing. I don't think anything was missing. Honestly, I'm just being myself. I'm not actually trying to create this strong, vulnerable, project. I'm just being myself. I am super inspired by the other music, but I don’t think that anything was lacking. The art that I grew up absorbing and consuming, and to to this day, is any artist that has been completely authentic. I love that those artists where their art just fills my soul and everything about them. You've got people like Frank Ocean they're just putting out music they're not doing anything else. And you've got artists like Rihanna that are doing everything under the sun. But both of those artists are two people that are being so authentic to themselves, so on my journey, and what I'm doing right now is I'm just trying to do me. It's a natural thing that's happening, it’s definitely not a planned thing.

There’s a lot of power in that. Now, you have already achieved so much as a young creative, and I just want to know what's on the horizon for MADAM3EMPRESS?
I'm working on a mixtape at the moment. I'm just stringing that all together, this mixtape means so much to me. It's just a really close to my heart type vibe. I literally wake up and think about it and then go to sleep and think about it. I'm really excited about it.

‘Some Type Of Way’ is out now via Warner Music. You can stream and download here.

To keep up with all things MADAM3EMPRESS, you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.