Mai Anna Sheds Her Skin on Playful New Single “Chameleon”

R&B singer-songwriter Mai Anna unveiled “Chameleon,” featuring Chloe George, last Friday. It is the most exciting track so far and will preview her debut album, Sleepy Eyes, which is set to drop soon via Epic Records and Not So Fast.

Born and bred in Queens, Mai Anna says she wrote it as a message to herself about letting go of her expectations and rediscovering her identity. She composed the song with Solomon Fox, her longtime producer, in Joshua Tree. Its style fuses a fluid bassline with jazz, paired with her unique, smooth voice that seamlessly transitions from R&B runs to percussive breaks.

“I’ve had so many moments where I was afraid of what was next, especially when the version of my life I had imagined started to fall apart,” Mai Anna explained. “But I’ve learned that sometimes beautiful things fall apart because you’re ready for something new. When I could let go of who I thought I was supposed to be, I found myself much closer to who I actually was.”

Directed by Jasper Seven Productions, the official music video features Mai Anna and her real-life friends, including Chloe George. They find themselves in each other’s dream world and move through their inner worlds as the realization unfolds during the song.

Raised in Queens, Mai Anna has a Japanese mother and a Puerto Rican father, and grew up in a household where education is highly valued. While studying at Harvard, she continued writing songs and performing them at the piano but had not recorded any music yet. Later, she studied under Esperanza Spalding. Her debut album, Sleepy Eyes, came from three years of friendship and collaboration with Fox.

As a singer, she signed with Epic Records and Not So Fast, a joint venture of Sevn Thomas, which includes the artist Giveon. Mai Anna presented the album with the single “Baby Blue,” which has already become popular on streaming services such as Spotify’s R&B Weekly, Apple Music’s R&B Now, Amazon Music’s Breakthrough R&B, Pandora’s New R&B, and TIDAL’s R&B Rising. She was also interviewed on The Joe Budden Podcast.

A former classical figure skater, Mai Anna skated in the “Baby Blue” video to Solomon Fox’s piano. On The Radar and Red Couch Show, Mai Anna showcased her singing skills. Another track from her album, “Sugar High,” appears on the FIFA Heroes video game soundtrack.

This week, she performed at The Basement Series show in the Vinyl Room of the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.

“Chameleon” gives another taste of Mai Anna’s album “Sleepy Eyes,” which will feature more songs.