Micaela Kleinsmith Announced As Apple Music Up Next Artist In South Africa

As the first winner of Apple TV+’s competition My Kind of Country, Capetonian singer-songwriter Micaela Kleinsmith has been named the next recipient of Apple Music’s Up Next program, a local version of their global emerging artist platform which they launched early in 2021.

“Going from being a little girl in Cape Town, South Africa, who loved singing with her guitar in her room and dreaming about doing what I love for the rest of the world, to being Apple Music’s Up Next artist is an insane and beautifully blessed path my life and career has taken,” Micaela tells Apple Music. “I am honoured and grateful to have been selected by Apple Music. Your support for my music means everything to me!”

Micaela Kleinsmith showed a penchant for songwriting from the tender age of 14, and after a successful stint on SA Idols in 2016, went on to perform across almost every stage in and around Cape Town in order to hone her live skills. Her onstage vigour served her well as a contest on the first season of Apple TV+’s My Kind of Country, as Micaela was first championed by masked country singer Orville Peck, before going on to be crowned the winner.

Her three-track EP Butterfly (2023), released through Platoon and available to stream on Apple Music, is exemplary of the type of heartfelt music that she makes, utilising her voice as her main instrument to convey a multitude of emotion using the butterfly as a motif for love and self-actualisation.

As the newest Up Next artist to be spotlighted in South Africa, Micaela Kleinsmith will be featured across Apple Music’s South African Up Next playlist. The curated Up Next playlist features a dynamic class of new and emerging artists, thoughtfully hand-picked by Apple Music editors from around the world.The playlist is genre agnostic and represents a line-up of artists our global editors are passionate about and eager to expose to a larger audience.

The vast global Up Next roster of past talent includes Grammy-nominated and critically lauded talent like 6lack, Daniel Caesar, H.E.R., Greta Van Fleet, Khalid, Amy Shark, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Claudio, Sigrid, Mr Eazi, Stefflon Don, Bad Bunny, Juice WLRD, Bazzi, Jax Jones, NCT 127, Summer Walker, Tierra Whack, Dean Lewis, Pink Sweat$, Koffee, Megan Thee Stallion, Burna Boy, Clairo, Lunay, Jessie Reyez, Orville Peck, Victoria Monét, Ingrid Andress, Conan Gray, Don Toliver, Rema, BENEE, Holly Humberstone, Natanael Cano, Givēon, beabadoobee, Arlo Parks, Tate McRae, Fousheé and Tems.