The name Una Rams has become synonymous with adjectives such as, cool, brilliant and masterful.

Words by Sizwe Shabalala

Having not released a music project in over two years, his return was always going to be a much anticipated one. When he appeared on Shekhinah’s sophomore album earlier this year, where the two collaborated on a flawless song, the anticipation for his own project grew even further. After a couple of year away, a few singles and feature verses along the way, Una Rams has finally made his return and this era is now dubbed as the Sam Sonic era.  

The project is simply called, “hold me when it’s cold: a mixtape” and it features the likes of, Langa Mavuso, Blxckie, Lucille Slade, rising R&B star Nanette and more. The mixtape came at a time when fans were expecting to get an official album from Una Rams but due to more reasons than one, Una Rams changed course and instead released this mixtape.  

“I had been working on my album, ’crush’; I played it for my manager, Savannah, and she asked when I would like to release – I answered June and her response was that it sounded a lot more like a Spring/Summer project. I was a bit bummed at first, but I had my heart set on releasing and so, right then and there, I said I’d make a mixtape for the winter and I’d call it ‘hold me when it’s cold’. It took about 3 weeks to curate and write out all the songs I wanted and about 3 months to get the features, the business end of things and everything else around the release ready.” 

While some artists like to use a mixtape as an opportunity to experiment, sometimes the quality of the music suffers in the process, however, when you listen to this mixtape, you can tell that everything was well-thought out. You get the sense that Una Rams is finally at a level where he has a very clear understanding of the kind of artist he wants to be moving forward.  

“There’s a level of care and attention I give to my work, regardless of how it’s packaged, this is why I tend to refer to them as projects — this was pretty much me experimenting, and trying to get things right, not only on the musical side of things but also on rollout and the business end of things as well.” 

After coming to the decision that his album would need to be pushed back, Una Rams started shortlisting some ideas that had existed on his laptop for some time and began actively working on putting together this impressive body of work. This part of the process was especially cathartic for him.  

“I was visiting the studio religiously. It was my place of peace and also quite therapeutic. There was just something about transforming the rough sketches into fully fledged songs and I have guys like KissBeatz and Christer to thank!” 

Like every other artist out there, Una Rams was also affected by the pandemic. He says, “It’s easy to get lost in the noise — sometimes it’s good to tune that out and just dance to your own rhythm. I think it’s important for every artist to have a season of inspiration where they look at what’s going on around them and understand it, but there needs to be a season that follows that, a season of creation where the artist will look within.” 

Since most of this mixtape was made during lockdown restrictions and curfews, Una Rams had to adjust and find new ways to work but even then, he says COVID has been both a blessing and a curse because one the one hand, it turned the entertainment industry on its head but on the other hand, this amazing piece of music would most likely not have been made.  

“Instead of complaining, we just had to lean into the resources we had. It meant having to send through demos to potential collaborators so they could create remotely and cutting studio time short. We’re typically used to working quite late but with curfew in place we had to make the most of the limited time we had. I think it came in handy because then I could go in there with laser focus and manage to get home in time to rest for my office job.”  

One of the standout songs on the mixtape is a song called, “ndo tou rali” and it is a song sung in TshiVenda. It is not a common occurrence to hear an R&B song in the mainstream that is almost entirely in TshiVenda and so, it makes sense as to why people were so intrigued when they first heard it.  

“The song literally fell into me. For me, it’s super important for us all to have wider windows that peer into each other’s cultures and backgrounds, that allows room for understanding & love. It’s also a symbol of pride for anyone that comes from Venda. Having grown up speaking Tshivenda, I took its beauty for granted, I think we all often do with our mother tongue, but getting to share it with the world has given me a different perspective, it’s delightful to see so many people intrigued by it.” 

While the fans have concluded that there is not one bad song on this mixtape, for Una Rams, the song he is most proud of is a song called “closer2you”, which features one of the most talented and exciting South African artists, Muzi.  

“I rarely finish or publish any of the beats I make on my laptop, playing this for my friends one night and having them jam to it was super affirming. If that hadn’t happened it probably wouldn’t be on here. I’ll have to say though, “next2me” featuring Langa Mavuso is definitely the Beyonce of the project — it was amazing hearing it back after we had put all the pieces in place.” 

The way the pandemic is currently set up, we are seeing a lot more events taking place and people are out and about enjoying themselves after being inside for so long. This means that artists can finally get back out there and perform for fans. 

“I want to get to perform these songs for people. I've decided to do my own shows – I think that’s the best way we’ll get to articulate what the standard for an Una Rams performance is. I have a lot of wild and crazy ideas and I spend time each day trying to figure out how to bring them to life. I definitely need to finish the album though…’crush’ coming soon!”