It has been a big year for the Adelaide rapper – she’s played festivals across the world, toured in Australia and released her debut album, Tkay, in October. 

Enjoying a very brief break back in her home state, Maidza said it had been a crazy year. 

“It’s been pretty hectic – it’s like a whirlwind all the time,” she said. 

“Releasing the album was kind of scary but it seemed like a next step for me.

“The album is my interpretation of what should be happening and other people might have different expectations of me, which is scary.” 

Maidza will cap off an impressive 2016 when she hits the Marion Bay Falls Festival stage this month. 

Even after taking on 200 shows over the past two years, she is still surprised to hear people singing along to her own lyrics. 

“[Tkay is] a really fun album to play live because it’s really high energy and it’s got a party vibe,” Maidza said. 

“One of the highlights of this year was playing a lot of European festivals that I haven’t played before, so that was fun.

“I also like the fact that I was writing this album and travelling back to America a lot and working with a lot of different people.” 

But taking a break is not on the radar for Maidza, with 2017 already looking like another busy year of touring and songwriting.