Miso Extra

Miso Extra is the solo project and moniker behind the fast-rising London-based singer, rapper and producer. Born in Hong Kong to a British father and Japanese mother, the artist moved to Japan when she was a child and later relocated to the UK. Growing up, she learnt how to play the violin and loved to sing. Her musical influences include J Dilla, the late MF DOOM, Daft Punk and Kelis. Aside from music, anime inspired the artist, and these references have been woven into her work today.

Though she was musically inclined from a young age, music wasn’t a path that Miso envisioned for herself due to the lack of Asian representation in the industry. As someone who often bottles up her feelings, music has enabled Miso to articulate herself, providing her with a conduit through which she can express and make sense of her emotions. “I often struggle to articulate what it is I'm feeling,” she says. “So when I do make music, I just sing. I sing or rap off the top of my head and then develop ideas from there ”

It’s through music that Miso has continuously expressed how she’s understanding, and learning to grapple with, her identity. “A lot of the music is my observations on self-reflecting,” she adds. “It's in the form of self-talk. Being part Japanese and British, it's trying to marry that gap of being Asian but not Asian enough and being western but not western enough. It's trying to toe that line constantly.”

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