After a lofty court battle with Lil Wayne over his usage of her song, “Once,” Karma is back! “HOLD ON ME – Jack Rayner Remix” is the latest single from the former lead singer of South African hitmakers “Henry Ate.” This haunting, self-recorded power-ballad is her first single in a decade.
Karma called on Los Angeles-based producer, Jack Rayner to create a remix for “Hold On Me.” Jack is an accomplished remixer and producer for high profile artists including Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, and Britney Spears. More revamp than remix, Rayner adds Trap and Lo-Fi influenced production to Karma’s emotionally honest lyrics while highlighting her raw vocals and the intention of “Hold On Me,” to make you feel.
The music video is a collaboration of dance performed by “South Africa’s Got Talent” winner, Kalon B and Karma performing the song front-to-camera. Kalon, who is currently the lead in “Magic Mike Live Berlin,” brings his contemporary dance movement to the clip that delivers beautifully painful visuals to the thought-provoking indie song.
Watch the video here:
Karma explains the inspiration behind the single:
“The original song was written a few years after my father passed away – it was my way of working through my grief. I have always leaned on music as therapy. I believe Jack’s interpretation of the song is quite different – that’s always to be expected with my writing. I’m not super literal and am happy for people to read their own meaning into my work.”
Karma began her career working under the moniker Henry Ate and later as Karma. The first album she released was in 1996. Slap in the face achieved resounding success in South Africa and several singles charted on mainstream radio stations. Her second album One Day Soon won the best pop album SAMA in 1998. She toured South Africa extensively from 1996 – 2002 before moving to the United States.
What else is Karma working on?
“I’m hoping to continue releasing new material every few months. These days it’s incredible what you can get done outside of the big studios. The original recording of Hold on Me was done via email and text messages back and forth between all the musicians who performed on the song. I did the same again with my next single Catch Me. Jack and I also worked this way on the remix. I’ve really enjoyed working this way, and will likely continue to do so with the other songs I have ready to record. No set schedule – I work on them when I feel inspired to do so. Sounds lazy … but it actually allows me to deliver the performances I’m happy with – they’re honest and sincere. I didn’t like recording under the pressure of a record company who was always worried about the cost of the studio time – it was rushed and didn’t allow for inspiration or real emotion to have a voice. My process is very different – so I’m super happy with having a studio at home and being able to give myself space to play with the work and experiment more. I also recently stumbled across some hard drives filled with old recordings and demos which I have been going through – discovered quite a few gems in there and have released a few of those too. likely more to come.