Official 2026 release photograph: One More Dance (feat. Mpho.wav & Atmos Blaq) - Single — Apple Music
Elaine is Ndivhuwo Elaine Mukheli, an R&B singer-songwriter born in Pretoria in 1999. She sang from age six in school choirs and talent competitions, won choir gold at the 2014 World Choir Games in Riga, and was reading law at Wits when her recording career began. Her sound is measured trap-soul: hushed, airy vocals over spare, moody production.
Her self-released 2019 EP Elements reached number 1 on iTunes and Apple Music in South Africa — the first independent female artist to manage it — and is certified platinum, while the single 'You're the One' stands at seven-times platinum. Columbia Records signed her in August 2020; a BET Awards nomination and a Best Female Southern Africa win at the 2021 African Muzik Magazine Awards followed. Her debut album Stone Cold Heart arrived in October 2024, the same month she was named a Spotify EQUAL Artist Ambassador.
The Ascots did not simply add another marquee to the Durban July. It turned race-day hospitality into a boutique festival, raising the expectation of what premium Durban July experiences can become.
Africa Rising Music Conference 2026 matters because it focuses on the systems behind the sound: publishing, technology, cross-border collaboration, artist protection, and the infrastructure African music needs to survive global attention.
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