In My Words: Ora Kola.

Ora Kola, taking rap music to cosmic new places. Music Craftsman and Graphic Designer Ora Kola makes futuristic rap music that tells stories about modern society and the experience of being a young Black man in a modern day South Africa.

We got to chat with him on the latest episode of the In My Words series in support of the Unarine Ramaru Youtube page. See below.

Here is Ora on:

Competition and Self Belief ~ I feel like people can compare as they want but I will not. You must trust yourself enough to know that the next one -project, song, release- [might] be better than the last one whether or not you’re thinking about it.

What music means/is to him ~ it is all I know, it is all I’ve allowed myself to do. I literally crushed out a normal life to go chase this. So like, for me it feels like I can not afford to fumble. At the end of the day it might be me who won’t eat. So I’m inspired by the fact that I might be hungry again and I know what it feels like, that keeps me going.

Love for music ~ I am very musical, I hope there’s more I can do to become [even] more musical. But yeah, I love music, I love how it sounds, I love how this voice sounds when it’s blended with the other, I love the tiny parts of a song, I love the (Lil) Wayne line – “real Gs move in silence like lasagna” – I feel like that was one of the greatest lines ever made. I analyze, I go deep in there. The music is layered and I feel like it’s the same with design.

If the music were taken from him ~ I will probably be passionate about designing as much as I was with the music. The passion just floats around – maybe I [do] love the music a lot more but I wouldn’t die without it. I would probably find a way to channel the same energy I was putting into the music into the designing and if designing doesn’t work out then I’m back to sketching. I will [always] be an artist.

His creative motivation ~ when I create it’s never about the next person, I don’t try to sound like or try not to sound like – it’s always just creating from a space of creativity. I try to channel out anything that would influence it – the art – to be. I just try create from the point of creativity.

Musical inspirations ~ It’s not one person, I enjoy how singing niggas flow. Singing niggas really flow. I used to listen to Bryson Tiller a lot – he really flows. I think Boogie also flows nice and he’s also real, which is such a beautiful combo. I don’t know if he influences how I rap but I listen to A-Reece a lot too. I also listened to alot of Em(inem), (Lil) Wayne and Bow Wow at some point.

Catch up with Ora Kola on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and ElectroMode.

See more from our conversation in the video below.

#InMyWords | Ora Kola – Aura | Idols SA | Thami Shobede