Hertha shines with ‘Ikhas’e’

Singer Hertha Elama (24) is taking on the music industry.

With more than three singles up her sleeve, the Walvis Bay born songwriter has added another track to her collection, ‘IKhas’e’, featuring rapper Phatboy Lutor.

In an interview with unWrap.Online this week, the artist describes the new song as a reminder for everyone not to be ashamed of their struggles and the work they do to survive.

“’IKhas’e’ is a song about the daily struggles of life. Life is challenging, especially economically and everyone is trying to survive. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there. But what brings us together is that we’re all trying to provide for ourselves and our families,” she says.

She adds that everyone has their hustles to put bread on the table and no one really gets to witness anyone’s life and how to perceive it.

Elama further describes herself as being weirdly an astrophile.

“I have a lot of courage, I’m strangely fascinated by astronomy. I don’t take things too seriously, even when it comes to singing, but somehow, it always works out.? Basically, I hate taking life too seriously, because I only have it once.”

She says the new song brought out the artist in her as it was a huge challenge, however, with encouragement from Phatboy Lutor, she manged to record the song.

“I don’t usually sing in my native language, but Phatboy encouraged me to do so, and I found it difficult. Singing in my native language is not as easy as speaking it, but he believed I could do it,” she says.

Elama is also a student at the Namibian University of Science and Technology majoring in procurement.

She says while school is not really her thing, in Namibia music cannot be the only thing to rely on.

“It is a huge hustle if music is the only thing you’re relying on. So, I took it as my hustle to fund my music, and on the positive side, it doesn’t hurt to study and learn a little.”

Adding to her collection, Elama is currently working on a six-track project titled, ‘Trudie’ – a dedication to her being a ‘Trudie’ for six years, she says.

“I will ruin the surprise if I dig deep into it but ‘Trudie’ is an emotional project. I have released three songs in the years 2021-2022, they are available on all platforms, including ‘IKhas’e’.”

‘Ikhas’e’ is currently available on YouTube.

Expressing gratitude for the support she has been receiving so far, Elama says she was eager to know what people think of her singing in her native language and the reviews so far have been positive.

“It was my first time but I trusted the experience as I trusted Phatboy Lutor with it. I have always been anxious to know how it would be like for ‘Ikhas’e’ to drop as it’s a very old song. It was always a matter of dropping. So far, I love how people can relate to it, cause that’s what mattered, for them to feel comfortable in an excruciating state of the struggle,” she says.

She started her musical journey in 2013 with the Anglican church choir, followed by the Flamingo Choir in primary school.

In secondary school, she joined the school choir and later the Mascato Youth Choir. She has participated in talent shows, events, choirs, drama clubs, ‘Walvis Bay’s Got Talent’ and more. – unWrap.online