Melodifestivalen debutant Chelsea Muco has described her pride in bringing Afrobeats to the Swedish competition. 

Muco is performing in Melodifestivalen for the first time on Saturday night, and her song, Controlla, will feature the under-represented genre. 

Click here to read this story at a glance…

• Chelsea Muco makes her Melodifestivalen debut this weekend, bringing Afrobeats to the Swedish competition
• Muco expresses pride in representing Afrobeats on a mainstream platform and aims to normalise the genre
• Collaborating with producers including Anderz Wrethov, Muco penned her entry, Controlla, in just one-and-a-half days

Speaking to The Euro Trip, Muco said: “I’m bringing Afrobeats and it’s an honour that I can do that and I have the platform to do it because I feel like Afrobeats needs to be represented. 

“This genre is very much alive in Stockholm – not only Stockholm, but Sweden. 

“This audience can finally watch TV and be like, ‘It’s Afrobeats on TV!’. It’s mainstream now and we have to normalise it. 

“I’m super, super excited. I’m happy that I can actually be one of them and say, ‘I brought Afrobeats to Melodifestivalen’.” 

The Burundi-born singer moved to Sweden with her mother when she was seven and lived in Kristinehamn before relocating to Stockholm. 

While recording in a music studio in her teens, she met Pa Modou Badjie from three-time Melfest finalists Panetoz. 

Muco would continue to work with Badije and penned her Melfest entry with the Panetoz frontman, alongside Elsa Carmona Oljelund, FERNAND MP, Karl Flyckt and Anderz Wrethov. 

Muco described what it was like to work with Wrethov, a two-time Melfest winner. 

“He is amazing. He is talented. 

“Working with a lot of producers, you don’t always find the connection with that person. But Anderz, the first time we saw each other, it was such a vibe. 

“He is so humble, he is so happy, and he was very welcoming. He’s a genius. 

“We created the song in one-and-a-half-days.” 

Chelsea Muco will perform Controlla in the fifth Melodifestivalen heat on Saturday (March 2).