Muni Long’s wide-eyed R&B is written with pure honesty. In recent years, she has come to bare all of herself in song, like when she was discovered on YouTube as a teen, singing the dictionary, turning random words and definitions into improvised melismatic gold. Later, in early 2022, Muni Long became known to the world by turning the tangible ache of irresistible love into “Hrs and Hrs”—a hypnotic R&B gem she famously wrote while doing dishes. The track soon went on to garner a Platinum certification, as well as over 1.6 million TikTok creates, more than 200 million streams across platforms, and a #16 peak on the Billboard Hot 100. It was a fitting introduction to Muni Long as an artist—casual, real, complicated. Every song she shares seems to demonstrate an ever-deepening understanding of the complex emotions of romantic entanglements, and the struggle to find yourself in relationships. She’s become 2022’s breakthrough R&B artist in the process of searching for herself. But in a way, her viral breakout almost felt like destiny—the web was the first place she saw how far her voice could travel. Knowing she’s capable of writing hit songs in the time it takes to clean her kitchen, she isn’t worried too much about what comes next. She’s hoping that her platform can show other people like her that it’s possible to succeed by being true to yourself. In Muni’s eyes, her rise is proof that Black women are commercially viable in an industry that has traditionally said otherwise.