- A fiery peak-time set.
- In the music video for her new single with Manni Dee, Manuka Honey embarks on a money heist, robbing a venue with a comically tiny Louis Vuitton bag. Wearing a barely there outfit, her cutesy goth girl demeanour and memeical one-liners capture many facets of modern-day pop culture. Whether through her music, fashion or astrology practice, the artist, born Marissa Malik, speaks to a large demographic of fans. Her sound is a composite of club genres from across the globe (everything from baile funk to gqom to pop edits), she describes herself as an "unhinged, hostile girl" and she's known for unfettered self-expression–"When you come to my sets, often, my tit will accidentally fall out or I'll step on the decks," she once told Resident Advisor.
Malik brings a high dose of sensual chaos to the dance floor. Her DJ sets and productions are rooted in hot and humid rhythms that are often distorted into acrobatic shapes or blended into one another for a maximalist vibe. Her latest EP, Machete / 777 for Club Romantico, combined elements of reggaeton with ballroom, while one Boiler Room show last year went from Waka Flocka's "No Hands" to new-school guaracha banger "Calentura Vaginal" (which translates to "vaginal heat"). She's dedicated to supporting the worldwide Latinx diaspora through her selections—which heavily skew towards regional styles like raptor house—as well as her collective and party SUZIO.
Malik's many influences shine on her RA Podcast. Moving from dancehall to Afro house to bassy dembow, the hour-long, high-intensity workout captures her core sound palette. It's energetic, steamy and a little disorienting, just how she likes it.
What have you been up to recently?
It's January, babe! I'm on a green-smoothie-morning routine-and-lion's-mane-supplements-type beat right now. 2023 was a year of heavy touring for me and I'm really feeling the repercussions that it had on my mental and physical health. Given this, I'm trying my best to listen to what my body needs and be kind to myself generally, especially as the year ahead is another busy one where I'll be flying around, pushing buttons and languishing in calculated chaos (touring). Don't get me wrong, I live a blessed life which I love dearly and am grateful for every day but it's easy to burn out when you're not moving with intention and learning lessons the first time. Alongside the R&R, I've been putting the final touches on my next EP coming out on Club Romantico, finishing up a very exciting sound art commission, thinking about Aymara (non-linear) time, which operates as a key concept behind my forthcoming release, doing cord-cutting rituals, keeping up with my spiritual hygiene, being offline as much as I can, listening to my playlists from 2009.
How and where was the mix recorded? And can you tell us the idea behind it?
The idea was to showcase my influences, like Sunn O))), my past and forthcoming productions, and the more intense side of my bass-heavy and very dark sonic palette. Whether it's grinding, slow sexiness or unrelenting clattering percussion, every track in this mix moved me in a very carnal way. Like, when I was choosing each track to go into the mix, I asked myself "Do I feel feral energy from this? Is it carnal enough?" and based on the answer, I either included the track or chopped it. I actually built this mix in a few different places: on the train, my partner's dining table, the desk in my bedroom, my studio. I made it in Ableton on my old-ass Macbook. I go into such intense hyperfocus when creating a mix, it's all I can do or think about so I have to just bust it out in a few days max. Otherwise, I become such a nightmare. For all of my fellow anxious attachment babes, the mix starts at 85 BPM and ends at 155 BPM.
What's one club or party that had a major impact on you as an artist?
Colour Factory in London. Those club walls have seen me dance, cry, fuck, DJ and laugh so much. From my best blends to my most atrocious clangs, I have so many fond memories there. One of my first-ever gigs was in the main space! I played to an almost entirely empty room in a full fishnet bodystocking and Pleaser heels. Going from that part of my journey to now, where I'm throwing my own party SUZIO in that space, is such an amazing feeling. After working with quite a few venues in London and playing at nearly all of them, I do have to say that Colour Factory shows a level of attention and care to their promoters, programming and audience (especially the LGBTQIA+ community) that other spaces ought to notice.
How does your DJing inform your music-making process, or vice versa?
Many people have said to me that my DJ style is almost like a live set given how quickly I mix between tracks and the way I use hot cues, loops etc. When I write original music, I don't start with the idea of "club functionality" in my mind because I believe that what works in the club is so expansive. Taking risks as a DJ is what teaches you the most and can garner the most exciting rewards. All of this to say, I let what I'm making evolve based on my mood, and if I want to play it in the club, I will find a way. Sometimes, that task is easier or harder based on the composition of what I made but honing that process is part of what makes being a DJ and producer so exciting to me.
How does spirituality and astrology come into your music and art?
It's very inherent. I suppose there are moments where certain planetary transits impact my process. For example I can never sleep on the full moon so a late-night studio session often makes the most sense. When it's Mercury Retrograde, I'm more likely to re-open a discarded project file and attempt to salvage it rather than start something fresh. I've always said I won't write my first book or release my first album before I'm on the other side of a Saturn Return and I stand by this. The world has to wait. But on the whole, it all weaves together without me having to give it much thought a lot of the time.
The thing about astrology is that it's like the weather. It's constantly happening around us whether we like it or not and we can always retrospectively look at what impact that had on us, even if in the moment we felt above it. Also, the way I grew up culturally already showed me that so many truths can exist at once, harmoniously and with ease, despite the projections of those around me. So of course, the composite products of what I make (art and music) are enmeshed with pieces of what I love, hate, or feel any passion towards.
I believe most artists have a personal semiotic language that develops throughout their lives. Like, of course we do, our minds are so porous and when we experience / grow / learn, it's impossible not to carry that into your art. It's just about whether one names it or not. Astrology and spirituality are both explicit and implicit aspects of mine. Also, being sexy!!! My music is so water sign coded, it reeks of yearning and I've realised I can't really do much about it lol.
What's one social or political cause you want the world to pay more attention to?
*Waves keffiyeh in circles above my head*
What are you looking forward to in the near future?
I'm honestly super excited to release my EP on Club Romantico next month and get back on the road touring.
TracklistSUNN 0))) - Sin Nanna
Manuka Honey - Sinner’s Dirge [forthcoming Club Romantico]
N-ERGY - Warzone
Kelman Duran - devils
PVSSY - LOSING MY WAR
Mikado, JD&JDS - Nuff a Dem RXM (Shadow Hunting Riddim 2K23)
Manuka Honey - Inconsolable [forthcoming Club Romantico]
Manuka Honey - Noise Complaint
Whyneed - Dung Deh
Natalie & Mafio House feat. Kalasa - Horny (Walpixx Riddim 4)
Nahash - A Snake In Your House
Manuka Honey - Diabl@
Xzavier Stone, Modulaw - ??? [Unreleased]
ROOi - El Oeste feat. CHLO
Keygurr - La Malinche
Esengo - The Mean Ha
De Schuurman - Domina
Imaabs - Abus
Manuka Honey - Te Aviso [forthcoming Club Romantico]
Klap & VHOOR - Maluka
Farsight - ??? [Unreleased]
YA1000 - Pes Ta Naste
Adame - Tambour
DJ Wallace NK, MC Gw, MC Lan, MC Pikachu - ???? [Unreleased]
BJF - Circus
Manuka Honey - Ssling
CRRDR - Baila
Safety Trance - Caracas Militia Bubbling
Keygurr - Dramaturgia
Manni Dee - All of It (feat. Manuka Honey)
Chinwax - Vakabonagerie (Sevenbeatz Re-Drum)
Nahshi - BDJTOOL
Van Boom, Oldyungmayn - Sights of Sajeda
Cazzu, Justin Quiles - Dime Donde