In 2019 Mi-kaisha Masella was named the NAIDOC Youth of the year.

Next the the social entrepreneur, political activist and singer was accepted as a student at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University. She is first Aboriginal Australian to be accepted there.

With one year of her degree left, the Darumbal Murri and Tongan singer is soaking up all she can of the Manahatta (New York City) music scene before she makes her move back to Australia.

Reflecting on being a First Nations woman in Manahatta, Masella said there's two sides to the experience.

"Ultimately, I'm just so proud to be here and I love and cherish the moments when mob come over and I can share my city, my second home with community," she said.

"But it's also rough, a lot of people don't know about Aboriginal Australia, even less people know about Pacific Islander culture.

"In short, it's beautiful, challenging and has forced me to learn about different histories and cultures and how I kind of squeeze myself into that space."

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In 2021 Mi-kaisha released her original song Brand New and is releasing her new single Seen on November 18.

Masella said she is slowly finding her place in the music industry whilst still being able to make music too.

"I'm here at uni to learn about the music business, to learn about branding, about marketing, about how to be an independent Black artist," she said.

"At this point in time I know that I love R 'n' B, I love neo soul, I love pop music, I'm inspired by women like Alicia Keys, Lauryn Hill who all came from this city (Manahatta).

"So I'm picking up on little things from here and there and slowly building my brand and who I want to be as an artist but still evolving."

Living in Manahatta, Masella said the city has given her access to a creative world which has helped her grow as an artist.

"Honestly my favourite thing about New York is just the spontaneity," she said.

"I can't tell your how many times a mate has messaged me and been like 'hey I have free tickets to go see the Fugees play their first concert in 15 years tomorrow, do you want to come?' or 'hey I have a free ticket to go see Alicia Keys tomorrow do you want to come?'

"So I think the biggest difference for me is just the access to the creative world and to see these women that I grew up listening to."

Her new single Seen is available to stream on Spotify and Itunes on November 18.