For Hailey Thomas, music has never been about fitting neatly into one genre.
Born and raised in Manzini, the young artist first caught the attention of audiences through her wavy rap videos on Instagram, where her delivery and natural creativity gave listeners an early glimpse of what she could do.
While rap introduced her to many people, it is her R&B side that she is now bringing further into focus.
The shift is not necessarily a departure from where she started. Instead, it is part of a musical journey that has seen Hailey explore different sides of herself while figuring out what she wants her music to say.
Her relationship with music began long before she started sharing videos online. A toy keyboard was among the early signs of a childhood fascination that would eventually develop into something more serious. Over the years, that curiosity grew into an artist who is comfortable moving between sounds and allowing different influences to shape her work.
In 2024 and 2025, Hailey took another step outside her comfort zone when she entered the Firefly competition at the Bushfire Festival. Although she did not take the top prize, she made it into the Top 10, an achievement that gave her music greater exposure and introduced her to an even wider audience.
For an emerging artist, those moments can be just as important as winning a competition. They provide an opportunity to perform, meet new audiences, and understand what happens when music moves from a phone screen to a live stage.
Hailey has continued to build on that momentum. On February 11, 2026, she released her single ahead of her upcoming project, All About You. The project is another opportunity for audiences to understand the person behind the different sounds they have encountered from her.
Rather than treating music simply as a route to popularity, Hailey describes it as something much more personal.
That approach gives context to the vulnerability running through her music. For Hailey, songwriting is a way of expressing thoughts and emotions that may not always find their way into ordinary conversations.
There is also a clear interest in collaboration. Hailey wants to work with artists who may not always occupy the spotlight but whose creativity deserves to be heard, describing them as artists who shine in the shadows.
It is an approach that reflects the wider musical community she is part of. As Eswatini’s independent music scene continues to produce artists across different genres, Hailey is carving out her own space by refusing to be restricted to a single sound.
For listeners who first discovered her through rap videos, her R&B material offers another side of the artist. For those who encountered her through Firefly, it is another chapter following an experience that helped put her in front of a broader audience.
And for Hailey herself, the journey appears to be less about arriving at a final definition of who she is and more about allowing the music to reveal it. Her story is still unfolding, one song at a time.
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