Warner Music Canada recording artist Charmaine is back and better than ever with her new single “FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS.” The infectious release is accompanied by an official music video that sees Charmaine and her best friends enjoying a self-care sleepover, with a classic sitcom feel directed by Spencer Edwards.
Charmaine says of the release: “’FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS’ encompasses the importance of having friends you can count on for anything. I was inspired by my two sisters from other misters, Kayla and Chanelle. My goal with this release is to depict how beautiful it is when you surround yourself with people who support and love you wholeheartedly.”
“FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS” marks a fantastic follow-up to a groundbreaking 2021. Charmaine boasts 6.5 million global streams across her catalogue with singles “WOO!” and “BOLD” being a fan favourite with two million streams each. Charmaine was the only Canadian artist selected for SoundCloud’s 2021 First On SoundCloud program that lead to amplified creative campaigns and global support – click here to watch Charmaine perform in SoundCloud’s Original film The Day Ones and here to watch her interview with Rico Nasty. With co-signs from media executive and radio personality Ebro Darden and famed rapper, promoter and radio personality Fatman Scoop, Charmaine’s making moves to be another sensation hailed from the North.
Born in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare, Charmaine relocated to the United States at the age of five, bouncing around the Midwest with her family at first before eventually settling in Nashville for a large chunk of her childhood. Living in the states was an eye-opening experience but by the time high school rolled around, Charmaine was already on the way to her next culture shock, this time heading north of the border to Toronto. Throughout her family’s frequent moves and financial struggles, Charmaine had always turned to music as a source of comfort and stability, something she could rely on for emotional support no matter how difficult things got. Collaborating with acclaimed producers/engineers Michael Lantz and David Ariza, Charmaine began work on debut EP Hood Avant Garde in late 2019, pushing her sound in an adventurous new direction that mixed the ’90s hip-hop she grew up listening to with the southern rap she fell in love with while living in Tennessee. The resulting tracks were playful, experimenting with unexpected cadences and cheeky sound effects, and the lyrics brimmed with poise and bravado. “I’d been a singer for most of my life, but the more I rapped, the more I felt like myself,” Charmaine explains. “It was almost like therapy, because it taught me to embrace all these parts of my personality that, as a woman, and particularly as a black woman, society had told me I needed to hide.” Charmaine may have started with nothing but it’s clear that she’s coming for everything.
