Tasha Baxter's voice has propelled South African dance music on to the UK charts, opened shows for the Springbok Nude Girls and, intriguingly, fronted a Christian death-metal group.
Now, after more than a decade in the South African music scene and with the release of her chart-topping CD, Colour Of Me, the mother-of-two has finally shaken off her title as the local music industry's "best kept secret".
Originally recorded in Baxter's lounge, Colour Of Me has already produced two local radio hits, Who's Sorry Now and Fade To Black.
Dutch production outfit Noisia - with whom pop star Robbie Williams is expected to work in the upcoming months - have also worked on the CD, touted as the album that could finally push South African pop into the international spotlight.
Not bad for a woman who admits that she once sold female sanitary bins to make ends meet.
"After lecturing people on reducing their bathroom bacteria content I don't think the recognition I am getting at the moment could get to my head," Baxter says.
"So I think that all of this has happened at the right time for me."
Baxter also believes that having her children, Gina and Luca, when she was 19 and 21 years old served as a "grounding force" in her life.
"Fame can be so overwhelming sometimes you want to grab it with both hands and embrace it, but when you have kids, you can't do that. You can't afford to let yourself get caught up. My children have and will always be my first loves."
Colour Of Me sees Baxter's first collaboration with André Scheepers, a classically trained musician who admits his career history involved eight years waitering at the Melville restaurant, Bamboo. He credits a "note scrawled on a grubby serviette" for bringing Baxter and himself together.
"I was close to throwing in the towel when it came to my musical career when I saw Tasha performing at a club in Melville," he says. "I was completely blown away by her voice.
"I asked the barman to give me a serviette and I wrote 'if you're serious about music, give me a call' and my number on it and I made sure she got it."
"I called him the next day," Baxter interjects.
The pair wrote "many, many songs" in the next eight months and, after whittling the tracks down, spent the next eight months recording. The tracks they produced grabbed the attention of music label EMI, who signed Baxter over a year ago.
Colour Of Me is unashamed "pop with substance", says Baxter.
"I think people like it because it's substantial.
"The lyrics carry meaning and the songs are about real experiences."
From Baxter's beginnings as the 12-year-old alternative band leader ("we played Herzlia", she says), she went on to embrace nearly every possible genre of music: hip-hop with the Original Evergreens, the enigmatic "Christian death metal" with Delay, indie with Penelope Tree and dance with DJ Roger Goode.
Arguably, it was for her work with Goode that Baxter first got her first bite of fame. Her vocals on Little Angel, a song she wrote for her baby daughter, saw the track climb on to the UK dance charts.
But, after the video aired, Baxter was nowhere to be seen. Instead, an unidentified model mimed her words.
Baxter confirms that she did appear in the song's original video, but declines to comment on her exclusion - apparently done because she was four-and-a-half months pregnant at the time of the shoot.
"I don't really want to get into that whole thing," she says.
"I'm looking forward and I'm really excited about what the future holds."
She pauses before adding: "I am so glad that I have gotten to a stage in my life where I can do what I love without compromising myself that's a really great place to be."