__NOTOC__ Meau Hewitt (born 10 May 2000), known

mononymously A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...

as Meau (stylised in all caps), is a Dutch singer-songwriter from

Weesp Weesp () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and an urban area in the Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of Amsterdam in the Provinces of the netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It had a populati ...

North Holland North Holland (, ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht (province), Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevola ...

. Her 2022 song was a number-one hit in the Netherlands.

Early life

Meau Hewitt was born in

Blaricum Blaricum () is a municipality and village in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. It is part of the region of Gooiland and part of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area, Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (Metropoolregio Amsterdam). It is known for ...

and grew up in

. Her mother's family comes from

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

and her ancestors on that side of the family were slaves on a

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

. Her Surinamese grandfather was also a musician, and played in the band Sonora Paranamera. When she was eight years old, Meau performed in

Kinderen voor Kinderen (; ) is a Dutch children's choir maintained by public broadcaster BNNVARA. Since 1980 the choir has released one album of new children's songs each year, and is probably the only act from the 1980s with consecutive albums in the top 40 chart ...

, a well known children's choir, from 2008 to 2011. In 2012 and 2013, Meau and her friend Alanis Blom tried for the

Junior Songfestival (; ) is a Dutch televised music competition for children, held annually since 2003. It is the children's version of the . The winner of the contest goes on to represent the Netherlands in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest (), an international ...

, both solo and duet, though neither reached the finals. From 2013 to 2017, she went to Vechtstede College in Weesp. From 2018 to 2021, she completed her training at the Herman Brood Academie.

Career

Meau's first song "Kalmte" was released in 2020. In September 2021, she released the single "Dat heb jij gedaan", written about the

emotional abuse Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or displeasure. There is no scientific consensus on a definit ...

she suffered in a toxic relationship. At first she considered the subject matter unsuitable for radio, but it reached number one on the

Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 () is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore radio, offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" ...

for eight weeks in 2022. At the time, she worked as an employee at the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the S ...

, but she would quit because of her fame. In June 2022, she released a song with

Racoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the North American, northern or common raccoon (also spelled racoon) to distinguish it from other species of raccoon, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the proc ...

, "Dans m'n ogen dicht". In May 2023, she released her debut album ''22'', which released number nine on the

Dutch Albums Chart The Dutch Album Top 100 or Album Top 100 is a weekly hit list of music albums, compiled by Dutch Charts. It shows the 100 best-selling music albums of the moment in the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, i ...

. It won an

Edison Award The Edison Award is an annual Dutch music prize awarded for outstanding achievements in the music industry. It is comparable to the American Grammy Award. The Edison award itself is a bronze replica of a statuette of Thomas Edison, designed by ...

for best Dutch-language release. She participated in season 16 of the reality show '' Beste Zangers'', which aired beginning in September 2023. In January 2024, she released the song "Stukje van mij" in collaboration with telecommunication company

KPN Koninklijke KPN N.V. (Royal KPN N.V. in English), trading as KPN is a Dutch List of telephone operating companies, telecommunications company. KPN originated from a government-run postal, telegraph and telephone service and is based in Rotterda ...

, about the consequences of

sexting Sexting is sending, receiving, or forwarding sexually explicit messages, photographs, or videos, primarily between mobile phones. It may also include the use of a computer or any digital device. The term was first popularized early in the 21s ...

and

revenge porn Revenge porn is the distribution of sexually explicit images or videos of individuals without their consent, with the punitive intention to create public humiliation or character assassination out of revenge against the victim. The material ma ...

. It became her second top ten hit, and the music video won the Grand Prix at the 2024 Cannes Lions awards. In October 2024, she released "Het midden", a collaboration with Belgian singer-actress Pommelien Thijs. It reached number one in Belgium (

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Awards

2022 for Best Newcomer

References

External links

{{Authority control 2000 births Living people Dutch women singer-songwriters 21st-century Dutch musicians 21st-century Dutch singer-songwriters 21st-century Dutch women singers