[MAGAZINE] MAETA [SS23 ISSUE]

Bringing her own flair to the music scene with her sultry R&B cadence, Maeta is Indiana’s rising starlet. With a sultry and sensual musical palette, the songstress has already worked with musical giants like James Fauntleroy and Lucky Daye. Following a recent compliment from the legendary Beyonce, Maeta is on the brink of breaking into a new stratosphere. 

With her brand new ‘S(EX)’ EP captivating listeners, her evocative allure as an artist is evident. Get to know Maeta personally with this candid interview as VIPER delve into her come-up, raunchy lyrics and that moment with B. 

‘S(EX)’ is your first release of 2023, it’s written by Kehlani, how did it come about?
We haven’t worked on music together in person yet. I met her a year or two ago when we were doing karaoke and I’ve seen her out in LA, but I’ve never met her in person. The song got sent to me a year ago, so I’ve had it forever! I cut it and I guess she just loved how I sounded on it so she said I could put it out. We talked recently on DMs, I thanked her for the song and she was like, “I’m so proud of you and I love it!” 

So could we potentially hear a collaboration between you guys? 

I hope so! We haven’t talked about it but I would love to. I think we will, we have a lot of the same friends and songwriters, so I think that it’s inevitable. 

I need to know, what is karaoke with Kehlani like and what’s your song?
She was singing a lot of old R&B. There were a lot of people there, there were 20 or 25 people in the room; everybody was drinking. She made me so nervous but it was good! It was a party! 

The song ‘S(EX)’ is about returning to your ex – a familiar theme for many people! Is it important to you that your music is relatable to your fan base?
100%, because those are the things I’m going through and that’s one of my qualities – good and bad qualities about myself – that I’m so open; I’ll tell anybody anything. So no matter what I sing about, I’m going to be very honest. I think it’s important to me, because that’s the kind of music I like, when people are honest. You can always tell when somebody’s just putting out some bullshit. 

Is there a topic that is like a no-go zone, or would you pretty much sing about any topic?
I would. On my project, there’s a few songs that are really nasty, people are going to be shocked that I’m saying those things. Now that those are out, there’s nothing that I wouldn’t do, to be honest. 

Was there a difference in how you approached nasty topics on this EP?
The lyrics are just very out there, I’m talking about squirting, cumming, things like that. But my project’s called ‘S(EX)’ so those things are gonna come up. But I’ve just never been so “no-filter,” like no filter at all. 

Your last project wasn’t exactly shy though? 

No, I’ve always been a little nasty so it’s not going to take people too much by surprise. I would say the difference that I’m proud of is, it’s just a lot better and a lot more musical. I’ve worked with a lot of amazing people on this; Kehlani, The Dream wrote a song, Lucky Daye wrote a song, Free Nationals, James Fauntleroy, I’ve taken it to a new level, musically and lyrically and all the people that have worked on it are amazing. 

Do you feel that it’s important to work with people bringing something different to the music industry?
I think so. It helps politically – I would never do it for that – but it helps you like that. Also being around them introduces you to a lot of different people. I met so many people because of The Dream, Lucky Daye brought so many people to the session. So it definitely helps you build your industry community when you work with them. 

You collaborated with Vic Mensa on ‘Strawberry Louis Vuitton’, what’s the best thing about working with him?
I didn’t meet him when I was working on the song. We didn’t do it in the studio, I got sent that song and heard that he was looking for a female vocalist for it and I kind of just knew what to do. I knew what he would like and he loved it, so he kept it all. But we ended up performing it on Colbert a couple of weeks later and he was really cool to work with, very open and let me do whatever I wanted; he’s very easygoing. 

This is an extract from the SS23 issue of Viper Magazine. Buy physical and digital copies here.

Photography: EDDIE CHEABA 

Words: LILY MERCER 

Photography Assistant: RENÉ CONNAGE-DURANT Stylist: NADYA MAKI 

Styling Assistant: IKRAM ELMI 

BTS Photography: THANKSRUCCI 

Hair Stylist: PASHCAN’EL MITCHELL 

Make-up Artist: SUMMAR HUNJAN 

Location: WHITE RABBIT STUDIO