For Darumbal and Tongan singer-songwriter Mi-Kaisha, there was never any doubt that music was her calling.
Based in Sydney, the artist credits early experiences of watching her dad host a hip-hop radio show and attending church with her grandmother as key influences that shaped her love for music.
"I think I honestly came out of the womb singing — it's always been part of who I am," she told Nesia Daily.
"My environment was just a breeding ground of creativity for me."
For Mi-Kaisha, storytelling is at the heart of her songwriting — a tribute to the values of her Aboriginal and Tongan heritage.
"Community, family, kinship — all of those things to me are how I carry my culture with me in my songwriting and my performances."
Over the past few years, the R&B singer has been studying at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University, where she became the first Indigenous Australian accepted into the undergraduate program.
Now back in Australia, Mi-Kaisha sat down with Nesia Daily to reflect on a recent performance at the NRL Pacific Championships and look ahead to an upcoming show with RIAH at Bondi Festival to launch NAIDOC Week.