Ma Nala elevates her music with new sound on her upcoming EP In My Glory
After three years of stepping back from the music industry, singer/songwriter Ma Nala has made her return with her first single “We Going In”, taken from her upcoming 6 track EP In My Glory.
The songstress, who was inspired by life’s challenges in her latest creation, returns not only ready to bless the listeners with the music that she carefully curated but has also found a lot more meaning into her work that she is certain will elevate her.
“After the three year hiatus, I felt certain that I am ready to release music especially because I have been making music. So I felt I was ready and I was at a place where I also wanted to participate once again.
“I could release the entire body of work now because it is ready but it’s all about timing for me. I find that people around this time of the year can’t consume too much. And also with amapiano being at its peak right now, so I felt that releasing a single then leading off with another single in January is the perfect foundation to introducing the EP. And all I can say is that people must expect the unexpected,” she said excitedly.
Ma Nala, who hails from the Eastern Cape’s Bisho mastered the art of fusing Jazz, Soul and Afro-pop, released her debut single ‘Tryna Find Love’ in 2017 which was followed by the single “Soze” – an effective and creative rallying call for women to shun the violence inflicted on them by men. She then teamed up with hit-maker Gemini Major on her last single ‘Forever’ in 2018.
Not only is music an art form that Ma Nala, real name Aphelele Mnyango, has studied for in Los Angeles but it is something that she has been raised with. His father, the late Zolisa ‘Senzol’ Mnyango, was among the first popular radio DJs in the Eastern Cape and that subsequently led her to become exposed to varying genres. The proof of how deep the music roots run is also seen in her brother’s blossoming music career. Her brother being award-winning rapper Anatii.
So leaving the music industry, for whatever reason, has and will never be an option for her.
“I went through a lot during these 3 years. On the one hand, I was really trying to get support from labels in a way that made sense to me and my music but that was not going in my direction. I felt as though they wanted me to be someone I was not and I wasn’t getting what I was looking for. While that was happening, my mom got long-haul covid and I had to look after her. But even during that, I made music and I experimented a lot. It was a beautiful yet trying time that unveiled this evolving woman that I am today,” she said.
And with growth comes experimentation. Through that she has come up with her own genre, which she dubs as Futuristic RnB. She explains: “What that means is that I instill soul into each and every genre that I work on. So there’s RnB, there’s trap, there’s afro beats.
“I also have an amapiano track in the works ready to be released. I am in a place where I believe that an artist should not be boxed but allowed to express their creativity however they wish to. As long as it makes sense to you and it sounds good,” she said.
And she promises to never leave again.
“I am ready. I am in a good place and I know what I am doing. I am ready to make an even bigger mark that will propel me beyond the South African borders. That is where I am aiming for now, within the international spaces where I can also make an influence on others musically,” she said excitedly.
Watch “We Going In” music video below: