When no one was watching, she would imagine an audience and sing in front of the mirror using deodorants as microphones.
As a child, she dared to dream big and any chance she got to perform at church and at school, she ran with it.
Her eyes opened the first time she sang in primary school and shocked not only her teachers but her schoolmates as well.
In as much as she’s from a musical family and she grew confident in her singing, Beauty Rammalo knew that education would still come first.
“I knew I couldn’t sing professionally until I finish with school. So, I had to do what would make my mother and the rest of the family happy so that I can freely continue with music,” Beauty says.
When she pursued music and eventually started singing professionally in 2019, “it was honestly just to share all I have in me. I knew I had a gift to share with my people, I just wanted to sing. The ultimate goal was to make it bigger, to have tours in African countries, the world at large and just inspire through music and continue healing people through my melodies.”
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Even in her stage name, she was intentional in wanting to bring nothing but positivity in people’s lives. It was inspired by what she wanted to give people; hope. However, Beauty interprets her stage name Motlanalo, meaning bearer of hope as affirmation that she comes with a golden voice.
Of all the genres though, she chose Afro Pop because that’s where she felt more of herself.
“I also stood to be different, a young lady who understood her voice and chose what felt most comfortable in. It lets me be, it lets me express myself more and I always wanted music that will leave beyond me, music that is timeless.”
Four months after launching her music career, the songstress won an award for best Sepedi single for her song Sewela. Nothing was as heartwarming as scooping an excellence award from the Limpopo department of arts and culture on the day that her grandmother was being buried.
“It made me believe that anything is possible and proved to me that there’s nothing wrong with my genre, many would be discouraged because the genre has no quick way of making money but making consistent quality music works.”
Even after starting off with a bang and naming her first album Mahlabirwa, which was her grandmother’s name, she took a well-deserved two-year break from releasing music.
“I honestly did not plan it; it was just natural. Also, the break I took was not hibernating into thin air, but to pause on releasing music. I’d like to believe that the kind of music I sing is timeless. Therefore, with timeless music there is no pressure in releasing music spontaneously. I know my craft and I nurture it, I don’t rush to releasing because then I wouldn’t be giving my people exactly what they want,” she says.
“I need to be satisfied with what I am releasing. The break gave me time to come up with exactly the album I want, the kind of songs I believe will be loved just like my previous album. And above all take time for learning and further hone my career,” she adds.
Now that she is back, bigger and better, she says that she’s in a better place mentally and is ready to tackle the music scene with all the punches it brings.
Not only is she back with new music, she has also joined a new record label - Shynebright Entertainment.
In rebranding herself, she has reworked the song which gave her her first big break titled Rato Laka. The song’s music video features Thembinkosi Mthembu – who stars in Shaka iLembe, Adulting and The River.
Being from Sunkwane, a village in Tzaneen, the 29-year-old is living her dream in Polokwane where she receives the most love and support.
“I’d like to believe I’ve grown a lot. Over the years I’ve learnt to nurture my voice, to understand it and not push it over. Biggest lesson has been to respect each other in the industry and to teach even the ones around me that it’s possible to co-exist. That we are not in competition, and we are all in our craft trying to make it work for each one of us. If anything, let’s rather help each other. It’s important to also know yourself and your strongest point in your career,” she tells Drum.
After taking her time to strategise and rework her musical goals, Motlanalo has decided to host an annual Love and Soul concert.
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For its first installment on 25 November, she is featuring Zonke Dikana whom she has admired for the longest of time.
“Zonke is one of the greatest singers I know, and her music partly aligns with the idea I have for my annual concerts. I’m trying to promote live performances, we need to embrace live band performances, this becomes authentic and let people in your performances live and feel good in our element all the time.”
More than anything, she adds that she is working towards giving Limpopo their own Jazz festival.
While Zonke is the one artist she will be sharing a stage with, the singer and songwriter wishes Brenda Fassie was still alive for her to share a stage with as well.
As sad as it may be, “I find comfort in knowing I can share a stage with the likes of Zonke Dikana, Amanda Black, Thandiswa Mazwai. The likes of Caiphus Semenya would be my ultimate go to, the list is long and endless.”
