Noah Slee

Noah Slee is a New Zealand-bred singer/songwriter of Tongan heritage whose vibrant music blends together elements of alternative R&B, soul, and indie-electronic. After coming up in the 2000s as frontman for the Auckland-based reggae-funk combo Spacifix, he relocated to Berlin where he began collaborating with a variety of artists, beatmakers, and producers, eventually launching a solo career with 2017's Otherland and the 2019 follow-up EP TWICE. Slee, whose real name is Tau Manukia, grew up in a large family and first began performing alongside his eight siblings doing Polynesian floor shows honoring their Tongan roots. During high school, he and several friends formed the funky, energetic band Spacifix in order to enter the 2003 Smokefree Pacifica Beats competition, which they ended up winning. The group made a go of it over the next several years, charting the national single, "Sunshine Day," from their lone 2006 album and supporting major acts like Christina Aguilara and UB40. By the decade's end, they'd moved to Brisbane where in 2011, they released their final single in 2011. After Spacifix called it quits, Manukia headed to Europe where he eventually became enmeshed in Berlin's thriving arts scene. Recasting himself as Noah Slee, he developed a sound that pulled from smooth soul, laid-back electronica and experimental R&B, delivering his first EP, To Your Inner Hippie & Cos You Fly as Fuck, in 2016. His mix of modern sounds and vintage funkiness found an audience and he made his full-length debut a year later, enlisting collaborators like beatmaker Jordan Rakei and American singer Georgia Anne Muldrow. Over the next two years, Slee kept up a steady stream of singles including "Reality," Soulflower," and the FHAT collaboration "Do That." His second EP, TWICE, appeared in late 2019. ~ Timothy Monger, Rovi