A soul laid bare: all about Greentea Peng.
Delving into the music of Greentea Peng and how she’s changing the game.
artwork by Eliana Schiller.
In June of 2021, my close friend put a song I had never heard on aux. As soon as the first notes of “Satta” by Greentea Peng hit my ears, I was hooked, and, even two years later, I still listen to Greentea Peng almost every day. Although I wouldn’t say I had a particularly adventurous music taste back then, Peng’s music was able to pull me into a world of psychedelic genre-mashing sound, which started me on the long voyage of music exploration that I am still on today.
Greentea Peng has definitely been on the up-and-up since her emergence into the musical scene. In 2019, she performed her song “Downers” on COLORS, where it garnered millions of views in only a few months and currently has over 18 million views. In 2020, Peng appeared in a list of 20 rising stars in The Observer. In the very same year, she made her TV debut on the popular music show Later… With Jools Holland on BBC with a performance of her popular song “Hu Man”, which remains one of her most popular songs on Spotify to date. In 2021, she placed 4th on BBC’s Sound of 2021 list, which aims to spotlight the most promising upcoming artists. As of right now, she’s been able to amass a sizable following of over a million monthly listeners on Spotify but, if you listen to her music, you'd be surprised that she ONLY has a million. As one of my favorite artists, I’m on a mission to show her music to the world—here’s why she deserves a spot on your new playlist.
Hailing from South London, Greentea Peng’s journey to stardom has been a tumultuous one. As a child, she always loved singing and creating music, performing at school and even creating her own “funky house tunes.” However, by the time she was 15, Peng grew quite depressed, quitting music and losing confidence in performing. After leaving home at 17, Peng threw herself into a life of partying and, according to her, “a lot of drugs, drug-taking.” After years of working at bars and losing herself to the chaos of the London nightlife scene, Peng felt the need to escape the dark place she had been in, choosing to go to Mexico for some soul-searching. Her time spent traveling and meditating led her to join a local Mexican band, through which she fell in love with music again. Peng’s renewed sense of self-confidence led her to move back to London to record and release her debut EP, Sensi.
Peng’s music is undeniably beautiful; the delicate washes of sound in “Mind” on Sensi and the luxurious, deep vocals on her single “Soulboy (IZCO Remix)” are perfect examples of the earthy soundscape she creates. However, it’s her emotional complexity and her ability to transform life experiences into music that make her discography truly something unique. Combining swing-style reggae beats with elements of ska, funk, and even an occasional fiery electric guitar riff, you can almost hear the swirling emotions of her chaotic teenage life reflected in the erratic blending of genres. Yet at the same time, Peng’s soulful R&B-style vocals and psychedelic synths, present in songs such as “Moonchild,” provide a subdued sense of calm, balancing out the pandemonium and preventing it from being too overwhelming to the listener.
Peng’s voice could be the subject of an article all by itself. Her resonance is rich and deep, cut with a rasp reminiscent of Amy Winehouse. She combines this incredible tone with a Kali Uchis-like delivery, smooth and lush. Yet Peng isn’t merely a copycat of her predecessors; her voice shifts and transforms from song to song, always perfectly in step with the vibe of the music. In “Sane,” the penultimate track on the EP RISING, she utilizes vocal breaks and ornaments to punctuate her voice and keep up with the calm yet chaotic nature of the track. Other songs like “Mr. Sun (miss da sun)” contain that smooth, continuous delivery she’s so loved for. Peng’s voice is simply another element which adds to the perfect kaleidoscope of sound that she creates.
Despite the apparent chaos of her musical construction, Peng’s discography is remarkably accessible to the average listener. The many different genres she uses intertwine to create a truly multifaceted sound, one that draws in fans of many different types of music. This is best encapsulated in her 2021 album Man Made, which takes the listener on a journey of musical exploration. “This Sound,” the second track on the album, provides a funky, bass-filled instrumental, while the next song “Free My People'' displays a hypnotizing ripple of reggae-style rhythm, although the reggae influence is less obvious than in other projects, notably the 2020 single “Revolution”. Moving through the project, a huge variety of styles and influences emerge; the D’n’B beats in “Nah It Ain’t the Same”, grungy bass and electric guitar in “Sinner”, and enthusiastic jazzy style of “Jimtastic Blues” are just some examples. This all resides under her lulling neo-soul vocals, through which enthusiasts can recall the lush sound of Peng’s greatest inspirations, Erkyah Badu and Lauryn Hill. Clearly, there is something within her music for every type of listener.
Another incredible facet of Peng’s music is its psychedelically soothing sound. Although she avoids calling her music “spiritual,” it certainly possesses a mystical quality to it, evoking loungy images of profound late-night conversations, of incense burning in someone’s dimly lit studio apartment. It is spiritual in a general sense, not tied to any one culture or message; it is a perfect reflection of Peng herself, who—despite having the Om symbol tattooed between her eyes, posters of hindu gods plastered around her apartment, and countless shrines and cultural relics from around the world—does not subscribe to any particular form of devotion. She explains, “My spirituality is individual and universal … It’s not a formal practice and I don’t want to be branded.” Whatever the case, her music conveys a searching, transcendental quality that one might feel while stargazing or dreaming, or simply appreciating the grandeur of life. The yearning for something greater than ourselves is best represented in “Liberation,” in which Peng sings, “Yeah, I’m trying to lose my mind. To elevate, yeah, it takes a lifetime. I don’t mind, I’m searching for my liberation.” Celestial song titles such as “Saturn” and “Moonchild,” also display the universal scale on which she operates.
If the sound of her music perfectly encapsulates the essence of Peng, it’s the lyrics that truly show what’s going on in her mind at any given moment. If we zoom in, we can see that Peng touches on subjects that are very tangible. She speaks out about her own struggles in life through songs like “Downers,” with striking lyricism:
I can’t smell the flowers
Felt empty now for hours
Lost my powers
Now, I can’t smell the flowers
I’m sick of all these towers
Think I done too many downers
Many of her songs also focus on issues that affect the greater community surrounding her; a great example of this is her single “Ghost Town,” where the lines “London Bridge is fallin’ down… But you can’t take my city from me'' encapsulate the turbulence that gentrification inflicts on London. Her lyrics allow the listener to catch a glimpse of her anger, her turmoil, her sadness underneath the apparent musical tranquility. She has a sense of maturity and self-awareness that comes across effortlessly, and it is precisely this dichotomy between enigmatic abstractism and realism which provides yet another layer of allure to her music.
Greentea Peng is the perfect mix of new and old, bold and soft, sophisticated yet grungy. She's the perfect artist to recommend to those around you, a unique recommendation that they probably will not have heard of but perfectly approachable enough to be a hit in any circle. If you are a music enjoyer of any kind, take a listen and do a little soul searching of your own.
edited by Sydney Cook.
artwork by Eliana Schiller.