MARYLKA: A Voice Born in Shadow, raised by Soul, and Carved for the Global Stage

Article by Young N’ Loud

In an era where music often rushes toward immediacy, Marylka moves differently. She listens first. She feels deeply. Then she creates with intention. Her work does not chase trends or geography. Instead, it carries an emotional gravity that feels both intimate and cinematic, rooted in soul yet unafraid of darkness. At only twenty years old, Marylka stands as a European artist with a distinctly global voice, shaping a sound that belongs as much to late night introspection as it does to international stages.

This is not a story about numbers or algorithms. This is a story about instinct, identity, and the courage to sound like yourself before the world tells you how you should sound.

Where the Music Began Before the Spotlight

Marylka’s relationship with music began long before releases or studio sessions. It started with curiosity and devotion. As a child, she gravitated naturally toward instruments, vocal training, and the constant discovery of new sounds. Concert halls became classrooms. Listening became a discipline. Songwriting emerged not as a decision, but as a necessity.

Before singles entered the world, performances came first. She learned early how music lives and breathes in front of people. At home, she wrote at the piano, imagining every instrument in detail, building entire arrangements inside her mind. When she began working with professional Polish producers at the age of fifteen, she experienced a defining realization. The music sounded exactly as she had imagined it. That alignment between inner vision and external sound confirmed her path.

Years later, another moment reshaped her confidence entirely. A collaboration offers from Grammy and Billboard recognized American Producer Ghost Kid reframed her artistic direction. Through that creative exchange, Marylka fully embraced the fusion of R and B, soul, and hip hop as her natural language. It did not feel strategic. It felt inevitable.

A European Origin with a Transatlantic Soul

Marylka was born and raised in Poland, yet her sound resists geographic borders. Her musical identity did not grow from local traditions or regional scenes. Instead, it formed through constant exposure to global music cultures. From a young age, she listened to artists from different continents, absorbing influences that shaped her emotional and sonic preferences.

R and B and soul became home. Amapiano rhythms and reggaeton grooves entered her listening world as well, expanding her sense of movement and texture. While her passport says Europe, her musical instincts often feel deeply American, grounded in the emotional storytelling and rhythmic foundations of classic and contemporary R and B.

That contrast has become one of her defining strengths. She carries the discipline and introspection often associated with European artistry, while channeling the warmth, groove, and vulnerability rooted in Black American music traditions.

A Name That Carries Legacy and Intention

Marylka performs under her real name, a choice that carries both personal history and strategic clarity. Named after her grandmother, Marylka is a rare and unconventional name within Poland. Its uniqueness allowed it to exist naturally as a stage name without dilution or confusion. In English, it translates loosely to Marilyn, evoking a sense of timeless femininity and presence.

The name reflects who she is as an artist. Personal. Singular. Unmistakable.

Sound That Lives Between Darkness and Desire

Describing Marylka’s music through traditional genre labels feels limiting. Her sound exists in a space that feels dark yet soothing, sensual yet restrained. Even without understanding the lyrics, listeners can feel the emotional temperature of her work. Live instruments breathe alongside modern bass lines and synth textures, creating a sonic environment that invites closeness rather than distance.

Emotion sits at the center of everything she creates. Her goal remains simple and demanding. She wants listeners to feel what she felt while writing. She imagines closed eyes, shared vulnerability, and emotional recognition. Lyrics matter, but sound carries the truth first.

Creation in Solitude and Collaboration

Marylka’s creative process shifts depending on the project, yet one element remains constant. She writes her lyrics alone. Often late at night, sometimes on a balcony, always in moments of quiet honesty.

Her earliest songs emerged entirely from her own ideas. She composed at the piano, wrote lyrics, then communicated detailed visions to producers. Together, they built beats that honored those concepts. As her career progressed, collaboration became more fluid. Studio sessions sparked shared ideas, while her lyrical voice remained personal and controlled.

Her latest single, Toxic Love, marked a new chapter. Ghost Kid approached her with a concept, initiating her first fully online collaboration. The experience expanded her creative confidence and reinforced her ability to adapt without losing identity.

Beyond music, Marylka draws inspiration from everywhere. Books, films, travel, personal challenges, and lived experiences all feed into her artistic direction. Nothing exists in isolation. Everything informs the work.

Growth, Resistance, and the Cost of Authenticity

One of the most defining challenges in Marylka’s journey arrived through language. Although English is not her first language, it felt closest to her emotional expression. She wrote and released her earliest songs in English instinctively. However, pressure from parts of the Polish music industry pushed her toward creating music in her native language.

At first, the shift felt uncomfortable. Singing in Polish made her feel exposed, as if listeners could see directly into her thoughts. While those songs gained radio play, the experience ultimately clarified her truth. English remained her emotional home.

Returning to English language music marked a personal and artistic reclamation. With Ghost Kid’s support, she realigned with the sound that felt most honest. That decision reshaped her confidence and reaffirmed her long term vision.

From Pop Expectations to Personal Power

Marylka’s earliest releases reflected her age. At fifteen, she wrote about peer experiences and youthful perspectives. Over time, both her life and her music matured. She stepped away from mainstream pop structures, recognizing how repetitive radio driven pop had become.

Rather than conform, she chose originality. Her music embraced darker feminine energy, emotional complexity, and sonic depth. That evolution mirrors her personal growth. While she is twenty years old, her artistic presence carries a weight that suggests lived experience beyond her years.

Studio Energy and the Joy of Creation

Every recording session still excites her. The studio remains a sacred space where ideas come alive through collaboration. She speaks about songs as if they are living beings, each one deserving care and attention.

The chemistry between artists during collaboration continues to inspire her. That shared creative energy fuels her passion and reinforces why she chose this path in the first place.

Despite assumptions, some listeners mistakenly categorize her as a rapper due to her lyrical density and rhythmic flow. She rejects that label calmly and clearly. Complex lyric structures exist across genres. Her work draws from R and B and soul traditions where lyrical depth serves emotional storytelling rather than classification.

Fire, Femininity, and Fearless Expression

If Marylka’s music had a sensory identity, it would burn. She describes it as fire. Red lips. Lipstick on a champagne glass. Juicy cherries. Sweet and chili flavors intertwined. The imagery reflects sensual confidence balanced by danger and restraint.

Her work often explores themes people hesitate to discuss. Emotional vulnerability. Shame. Desire. Inner conflict. She approaches these topics without apology. Through her music, she invites listeners to reconsider perspective. Reality, she believes, changes depending on where you stand.

She views her art as both personal and social. By addressing uncomfortable truths, she hopes to give listeners confidence, especially women, to embrace femininity without fear or shame.

Looking Toward a Global Future

Marylka continues to build momentum. Several new songs are ready for release, including projects aimed at the European market in her native language. At the same time, international collaborations expand her reach. A French and English project with a rapper arrives soon, alongside ongoing American projects.

Her dream collaboration already exists in Ghost Kid, whose vision and experience continue to elevate her work. Yet she also looks toward future vocal collaborations with artists like Chris Brown, Leon Thomas, and British Rapper Central Cee, whose artistry she deeply respects.

For Marylka, success does not revolve around numbers alone. It means creating professionally, growing continuously, and receiving recognition rooted in authenticity. Improvement fuels her happiness. Creation keeps her alive.

What keeps her Young and Loud remains simple? The fire never leaves. She listens. She writes. She sings. She refuses to shrink.

And as she steps further into the global spotlight, Marylka does not ask permission. She brings her shadow, her soul, and her truth with her.