Xenia Manasseh concludes her compelling ‘love/Hate’ series

Xenia Manasseh once again demonstrates her status as one of the outstanding voices exploring the many facets of love. Begun in September 2023, this second part of Love/Hate dives deep into the fundamentals of love and trust, with a more hostile discourse. She shared her thoughts with us on the series’s new direction.

Empowered by a melodious, unique and charming voice, Xenia Manasseh returns with Love/Hate Pt.2, bringing this series of two complementary albums to an end. Through her musical influences and pure talent, Xenia managed to immerse us in her complex universe : « I consider myself as a Neo-Soul and R&B artist essentially. My main influences are artists like India Arie, Erykah Badu, Alex Isley, Brandi. I feel like they can tell a lot of their personal stories and explore love and emotions in the most striking way. Their music really impacted me and touch my soul. » This acknowledgement from her peers reflects Xenia Manasseh’s artistic wisdom and maturity, which she has gained over the years, thanks to a rich background of experience : « I genuinely think that writing music helped me grow up as a person. When I started writing, everything was a bit raw and unfiltered. And with the time I realized that writing kind of helps me clarify things in life. So, it naturally led me on a path of self-discovery and learning things about myself. Now there’s a lot more thoughts and understanding before I even drop new music. I tend to put myself in other people shoes as well and not speak from my unique perspective anymore. But I think my greatest lesson of the last few years that took my artistic identity to the next level is realizing the power of manifestation. I realized that when I write about things that haven’t happened: they come true. So, in that perspective I tend to add message of hope after I covered theme like pain or heartbreak for example. The power of manifesting through words is real. »

Xenia’s pursuit of artistic self-realization has also led her on a whole series of trips that have enriched her cultural baggage : « I started traveling on my own in high school. I was outside of Nairobi, in Mombasa precisely, and then I went to college in Boston. But as an adult I started traveling on my own in 2021. I took myself on trip to Cape Town, South Africa without any particular purpose but to escape and discover new cultures, relax and don’t think about making music there or else. But the beautiful thing is that music followed me and I end up meeting all the people that I needed to know. My first session there was with Tyla. Nothing was planned, that’s the beauty of it. So music followed me wherever I went and it confirmed that itis a major part of my life and who I am. Afterwards, I went to Uganda that same year, to Zanzibar and Lagos.  All of these trips ended up music related. Then I went back to the US in 2022, spent a few months in Atlanta and then settled in Los Angeles. This is how spontaneous I am. All these experiences taught me that whenever I have the opportunity to go somewhere, I just go because good things could happen there. And I definitely think that the environment that I’m in influences the music that I make. »

Her journeys led her to cross paths with Mr Eazi, resulting in the remarkable track “Cherry” on the latter’s “Something Else” EP : « I met him when I auditioned to be a member of the EmPawa100 program at the time. I got in and that’s how we connect and few months after he asks me If I wanted to drop a verse on Cherry and I immediately said yes! I love writing so much so I don’t restrict to any genre. I’m curious to know what experimenting will bring out of me. »

After all these experiences, Xenia came up with Love/Hate Pt.1 and more recently Pt.2. This second chapter delves into the opposing emotions of anger, pain, and transformation. In this deeply personal project, Xenia reflects on the decisions and lessons that have shaped her life, tapping into emotions tied to hate and its accompanying complexities. Central to Pt. 2 is the introduction of Xenia’s alter ego, ‘XE’, who embodies the duality of a dragon—fierce yet graceful. This character mirrors the raw intensity and strength present throughout the album, allowing Xenia to express her own evolution and the powerful emotions she has wrestled with. Like a dragon commanding both fury and grace, Love/Hate Pt. 2 represents a transformative journey for Xenia, showcasing her artistic and lyrical growth : « What I really wanted to express in the last album is the fact that it’s okay not to be okay and it’s okay to talk about how you feel. I chose to put the track Phases as outro because of its optimistic reasoning and message of hope »

This second Love/Hate chapter has already been a huge success for the fans, and even appeared in Time Square : « ime Square is iconic ! Being highlighted for this particular album that has songs I wrote 3 years ago was a really great satisfaction. It just confirms that your dream can never be too big, you must keep going. And it’s important to keep in mind that even being able to put out the music is a reward. Everything that happens after is a bonus. »

As we approach the year 2025, we questioned Xenia Manasseh about the next steps in her career : « I write so much music, like a little more than 50 songs just this year. I am a very instinctual and spiritual person so my daily mood guides my writing. I want my next album to be an acoustic one, it is not finished yet but that is the direction that it will have. As Michael Jackson said, ‘songs are already written, it’s just about the opportunity that you get to write them’. »

Listen to Love/Hate Pt.2