French-Senegalese artist anaiis writes transportive progressive soul aglow with cosmic daydreaming and illuminated with inner knowledge. Inspired by Maya Angelou, Nina Simone, Octavia Butler and bell hooks (anaiis keeps her name in lowercase as a tribute to hooks), she uses her influences to build out multi-disciplinary works that invite us to sit between something fantastical and grounded all at once.

On her latest album Devotion & The Black Divine, songs swell with emotional clarity and a growing sense of homecoming. It marks an ongoing progression that began during a pivotal stint in Brazil, when a collaborative mini-album, anaiis & Grupo Cosmo, was created through live improvisation. 

anaiis’s music isn’t just reflecting the times: she makes a point of using her songs as vehicles to imagine new, vibrant possibilities. 

“anaiis has consistently surveyed Blackness as both an interior experience and a conduit to themes that live outside of self: family, folklore and heritage” – CLASH Magazine