From San Francisco, CA, the brother-sister singer-songwriter duo Maiyio x Chaiyia truly made the best of 2020. After beginning their musical journey together and releasing two singles, Maiyio x Chaiyia are more than grateful to have built a steady and loyal fanbase that bestows unlimited support.
Creating contemporary r&b that is both heartfelt and groovy, Maiyio x Chaiyia fuels their sound with smooth harmonies, anthemic hooks, and genuine lyricism that speaks of relatable experiences from all walks of life. Thankful for each listener and stream, Maiyio x Chaiyia kept their audience fully engaged with two conceptual singles released in 2020.
With the release of their debut single, "Downside Up," Maiyio x Chaiyia wrote this track around the struggle between mind and heart and how we tend to put aside forethought when lost in the moment. Garnering over 148k streams for this thorough and intriguing single, Maiyio x Chaiyia perfectly allows their listeners to have those essential internal conversations and ask themselves needed introspective questions.
Touching on another needed concept for their sophomore single, "Good Enough (For You)," Maiyio x Chaiyia tells the story of discovering one's self-worth when feeling down and out. Bringing in over 98k streams for this single, Maiyio x Chaiyia made the song incredibly relatable to all sorts of situations, whether it be not feeling good enough for loving someone, society, or yourself, Maiyio x Chaiyia make the importance of healthy self-reflection clear.
Familiarize yourself with Maiyio x Chaiyia's two released singles, "Downside Up" and "Good Enough (For You)" on all digital streaming platforms, and keep track of the r&b duo as we make our way through 2021.
Welcome back to BuzzMusic Maiyio x Chiyia. If you could take one thing away from 2020, musically or personally, what would it be?
Because the global pandemic left many wondering what tomorrow would be like, one thing we took away from 2020, is the importance of being introspective. Like many people, we have been quarantining, protecting ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities. With this newfound amount of time, we both have had to re-learn ourselves in the context of our present circumstances.
Besides the release of your two singles in 2020, what was another notable achievement your duo saw last year?
In all honesty, another notable achievement this year was making it through the year. Like many could attest to, this year was very overwhelming in a lot of ways. We are both very thankful for each day we receive because it gives us more time to practice and pursue what we love, which is making music, and storytelling.
As a brother and sister duo, what's it like working together? Have you been creating music together since childhood?
We have been singing and writing together with our entire lives. We have spent the majority of our lives in the same space together, so we are very close and very connected. When we were younger, we used to put on holiday showcases for our family after dinner, and that is where we started creatively working together. Today, creating music with each other is very rewarding, but sometimes it is very difficult. We are both in college, so distance sometimes affects how we work, because we have to balance the responsibilities of our studies, and our everyday life. But the pandemic has brought us closer together, as we are both quarantining with our mom, in our family home. This makes our current music and songwriting process very intimate, in terms of being self-reflective together. And because we are so close emotionally, and in terms of space, we oftentimes need breaks from one another, but that doesn’t change the love we have.
Are you currently working on anything that might see a 2021 release?
Just like the rest of the world, we’ve had to deal with the daily stress of transitioning our lives to online atmospheres. With studio closing, our ability to record was limited, our small home studio, and the voice memo app on our phones, have been hugely important in helping us to develop the framework for the music we have been working on. Yes, we are working on new content and plan to have 2021 releases that are heavily influenced by all of our challenges and successes over the last year.
Should we expect more introspective and highly conceptual singles throughout 2021, similar to what we heard last year?
Yes! We plan to be more transparent in our music and songwriting so that we can really connect with our audience in meaningful ways. We are being more intentional in how we share our lived experiences, in the constraints of a three-to-four-minute song, while remaining true to who we are as people who enjoy sharing stories. Our recent works are very similar to what we released in 2020, as they are extensions of similar experiences. We hope that those who listen to our music, new and old, see our growth as artists, and the development of a story, that hopefully resonates with their lives, creating shared experiences.
How do you plan on keeping your audience engaged as you further your careers? What should we anticipate from your forthcoming works?
We plan to be more present, and front and center, so that we can really connect with our audience and our supporters. That includes being more proactive on social media and making sure we deliver great music while staying true to who we are as artists. And that also looks like us being comfortable enough to let people in on our musical process.