Kelela Mizanekristos (Amharic: ከለላ ሚዛነክርስቶስ; born June 4, 1983) is an Ameri… Read Full Bio ↴Kelela Mizanekristos (Amharic: ከለላ ሚዛነክርስቶስ; born June 4, 1983) is an American singer. She made her debut in the music industry with the release of her 2013 mixtape Cut 4 Me. In 2015, she released Hallucinogen, an EP which deals with the beginning, middle, and end of a relationship in reverse chronological order. Her debut studio album, Take Me Apart, was released in 2017 to critical acclaim.

Early life and education
A second-generation Ethiopian American and an only child, Mizanekristos was born in Washington, D.C., on June 4, 1983.[6] Growing up in Gaithersburg, Maryland, she learned to play the violin in fourth grade and sang in her school's choir.[7] In 2001, she graduated from Magruder High School.[7][8] After transferring from Montgomery College to the American University, Mizanekristos began singing jazz standards at cafés.[7] In 2008, she joined an indie band called Dizzy Spells and sang progressive metal after meeting Tosin Abasi, whom she later dated. In 2010, she moved to Los Angeles,[7] where she currently lives, in addition to London.

Career
2012–2015: Cut 4 Me and Hallucinogen
In November 2012, Mizanekristos began work on her debut mixtape with already two recorded songs. She later quit her job as a telemarketer to fully pursue her career as a musician.[10] Having moved to Los Angeles, Mizanekristos connected with Teengirl Fantasy and contributed to the group's 2013 album Tracer on the song "EFX", which led her to meet Prince William from the label Fade to Mind.[6] He introduced her to the sound of the record label and its sister imprint from London, Night Slugs. In May 2013, she appeared on Kingdom's "Bank Head", and five months later released her mixtape Cut 4 Me for free.[11] Harriet Gisbone of The Guardian described the mixtape as "an experiment for the production team, the first time the production crew had used vocals on their club tracks."[1] Her track "Go All Night" was included on Saint Heron, a multi-artist compilation album released by Solange Knowles. The mixtape was heavily influenced by grime music, a popular electronic genre based in the UK, and helped revive the subgenre known as Rhythm & Grime.

In December 2013, DJ Kitty Cash released her Love the Free mixtape, which featured her song, "The High". Mizanekristos later released the track herself on February 4, 2014, on her SoundCloud.[14] She also featured on Bok Bok's song "Melba's Call", which was released on March 5.[15] On March 3, 2015, Mizanekristos announced the release of her first EP, Hallucinogen, alongside the release of the lead single "A Message" and its accompanying music video.[16] The second single, "Rewind", was released on September 2. The EP covers the beginning, middle, and end of a relationship in reverse chronological order.[17] It includes the previously shared "The High".

2016–2018: Take Me Apart

Kelela in 2014
In 2016, Mizanekristos was featured on "A Breath Away" from Clams Casino's 32 Levels, "From the Ground" from Danny Brown's Atrocity Exhibition, and "Scales" from Solange's A Seat at the Table. In February 2017, she took part in Red Bull Sound Select's 3 Days in Miami.[18] Later that year, she was featured on the track "Submission" alongside rapper Danny Brown and provided additional vocals on the track "Busted and Blue" from Gorillaz's album Humanz.

On July 14, 2017, Mizanekristos announced her debut studio album, Take Me Apart.[19] It was made available for pre-order on August 1 alongside the release of the lead single, "LMK".[20] Three more singles preceded the album, "Frontline",[21] "Waitin"[22] and "Blue Light",[23] before it was released on October 6, 2017.[24] The album received widespread acclaim from music critics and featured on various year-end lists.[25][26] It was also included in the 2018 edition of the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The music critic Craig Jenkins noted heavy electronic instrumentation on the album with, "deconstructed dubstep wubs in “Blue Light” and used the Roland synth that gave “Jupiter” its name—an instrument famous for its blaring leads—to play sultry chiptune instead."

On June 13, 2018, Mizanekristos was featured on the Girl Unit remix of the song "WYWD", which served as the lead single from his upcoming album, Song Feel. The two have previously worked together on Cut 4 Me's "Floor Show" and Hallucinogen's "Rewind".

On September 12, 2018, Mizanekristos announced Take Me a_Part, the Remixes, a remix album consisting of remixes from her debut album, and shared a remix for "LMK" featuring Princess Nokia, Junglepussy, Cupcakke and Ms. Boogie. The album features contributions from Kaytranada, Rare Essence, Serpentwithfeet and more.[29] On September 26, Mizanekristos shared Kaytranada's "Waitin" remix as the second single from the album.[30] The album was released on October 5, 2018, making it a year since the release of Take Me Apart.

2019–present: Hiatus and Raven
On September 13, 2022, Mizanekristos released "Washed Away", her first single in five years along with a music video. On November 15, 2022, Mizanekristos announced her second studio album Raven would be released in early 2023. "Happy Ending", "On the Run", "Contact", and “Enough for Love” were also released as singles prior to the release of the album.

On February 10, 2023, Raven was released. She performed her song “Enough for Love” during a performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon the same day.

Raven includes collaborators such as Asmara from Fade to Mind's NGUZUNGUZU, Philadelphia-based DJ and producer LSDXOXO, German ambient duo OCA, and Toronto DJ BAMBII. The album showcases Black futurist art and electronic music sharing inspiration with Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, and Sun Ra to Janelle Monáe, Solange, Beyoncé, Drexciya and Aaliyah.

Enemy
Kelela Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You're all up on me now
That you're my enemy
There's nothing here to save
It's all in front of me
When I'm feeling low
You're not the remedy
I'm keeping to myself
I get the best of me

You know we give it up
But love is not enough
They always acting up
We keep on lettin' 'em
I called you on your bluff
But you be holding tough
I need someone who knows
Someone who gives a fuck

But you don't know how!
I'm going out!

Spend some time alone
Now you're up in my face
Breathing down my neck
Better back up off me now
Don't you know it's me
K-E-L-E-L-A
You want it back
I'll keep the best of me now

You know we give it up
But love is not enough
They always actin up
We keep on lettin' 'em
I called you on your bluff
But you be holding tough
I need someone who knows
Someone who gives a fuck

But you don't know how!
(But you don't know how)
I'm going out!
(I'm going out)
You don't know how (how)
I don't know how
(I don't know how)

Don't know how to get it through you
Don't know how to get it through you

(Building me up)
Gave you all my time
Now I'm on my grind, yeah
There's no hate
It couldn't wait
Matter fact, I should thank you
Gave you all my time
Now I'm on my grind, yeah
There's no hate
It couldn't wait
Matter fact, I should thank you
Gave you all my time
Now I'm on my grind, yeah
There's no hate

It couldn't wait
Matter fact (thank you)

Overall Meaning

In the song "Enemy," Kelela sings about a toxic relationship where her partner is constantly up in her face, but when she's feeling low, they're not the remedy. She's clear about the fact that the love in the relationship is not enough to keep them together, and they constantly face challenges from external factors. Kelela expresses her frustration towards her partner, who is holding tough and unable to satisfy her emotional needs. She wants someone who knows and gives a f***.

As the song progresses, Kelela seeks to spend some time alone to clear her head, but her partner is still with her, breathing down her neck. She asserts her identity, reminding her partner of who she is and what she stands for. She continues to reiterate that her partner doesn't know how to meet her needs, even as Kelela heads out to do her thing. While she had given her time and energy to her partner earlier, Kelela is grateful for the opportunity to pursue her own interests and move forward with her life.

Overall, "Enemy" is a song that explores the tension, frustration, and disillusionment in a toxic relationship. Kelela recognizes that love is not enough to keep things going, and she seeks a partner who can give and understand her emotional needs.

Line by Line Meaning

You're all up on me now
You are trying to get too close to me now

That you're my enemy
Which is why I can't trust you anymore

There's nothing here to save
Our relationship can't be fixed or salvaged

It's all in front of me
The truth of our situation is clear to me now

When I'm feeling low
During moments of weakness

You're not the remedy
You can't make things better for me

I'm keeping to myself
I'm staying away from you

I get the best of me
I'm taking care of myself

You know we give it up
We tried to make it work

But love is not enough
But love isn't the only thing that matters

They always acting up
Problems keep popping up

We keep on lettin' 'em
But we're not addressing these problems

I called you on your bluff
I challenged you to be honest with me

But you be holding tough
But you're refusing to show your true feelings

I need someone who knows
I need someone who understands me

Someone who gives a fuck
Someone who cares about me

But you don't know how!
But you don't know how to do that

I'm going out!
I'm leaving

Spend some time alone
I need to be by myself

Now you're up in my face
Now you're confronting me

Breathing down my neck
Being too close and overbearing

Better back up off me now
You need to back away from me

You want it back
You want our relationship to go back to what it used to be

I'll keep the best of me now
But I'm going to take care of myself from now on

Don't know how to get it through you
I can't seem to make you see or understand

(Building me up)
(Making me stronger)

Gave you all my time
I dedicated a lot of time to you

Now I'm on my grind, yeah
But now I'm focusing on my own goals

There's no hate
I don't feel any negativity towards you

It couldn't wait
I had to prioritize myself and my goals

Matter fact, I should thank you
In fact, I should be grateful for the lessons I learned from our relationship

Lyrics © WARP MUSIC LIMITED, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Kelela Mizanekristos, Will Boston, Daniel Pineda, Asma Maroof

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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You're all up on me now
That you're my enemy
There's nothing here to save
It's all in front of me
When I'm feeling low
You're not the remedy
I'm keeping to myself
I get the best of me
You know we give it up
But love is not enough
They always acting up
We keep on lettin' 'em
I called you on your bluff
But you be holding tough
I need someone who knows
Someone who gives a fuck
But you don't know how!
I'm going out!
Spend some time alone
Now you're up in my face
Breathing down my neck
Better back up off me now
Don't you know it's me
K-E-L-E-L-A
You want it back
I'll keep the best of me now
You know we give it up
But love is not enough
They always actin up
We keep on lettin' 'em
I called you on your bluff
But you be holding tough
I need someone who knows
Someone who gives a fuck
But you don't know how!
(But you don't know how)
I'm going out!
(I'm going out)
You don't know how (how)
I don't know how
(I don't know how)
Don't know how to get it through you
Don't know how to get it through you
Gave you all my time
Now I'm on my grind, yeah
There's no hate
It couldn't wait
Matter fact, I should thank you
Gave you all my time
Now I'm on my grind, yeah
There's no hate
It couldn't wait
Matter fact, I should thank you
Gave you all my time
Now I'm on my grind, yeah
There's no hate
It couldn't wait
Matter fact (thank you)