In 2019 Mi-kaisha Masella was named the NAIDOC Youth of the year.
Next the the social entrepreneur, political activist and singer was accepted as a student at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University. She is first Aboriginal Australian to be accepted there. With one year of her degree left, the Darumbal Murri and Tongan singer is soaking up all she can of the Manahatta (New York City) music scene before she makes her move back to Australia.
Reflecting on being a First Nations woman in Manahatta, Masella said there’s two sides to the experience.
“Ultimately, I’m just so proud to be here and I love and cherish the moments when mob come over and I can share my city, my second home with community,” she said.
“But it’s also rough, a lot of people don’t know about Aboriginal Australia, even less people know about Pacific Islander culture.
“In short, it’s beautiful, challenging and has forced me to learn about different histories and cultures and how I kind of squeeze myself into that space.”