Heeding her parents’ wishes for her to have a legal career, Filah Lah Lah got her law degree from the University of Limpopo. But her heart always belonged to music, so, when her family urged her to practise law for at least a year (her older brother Karabo is also a lawyer), she decided to bet on herself instead. It has all paid off — she’s on a winning streak as one of the artists who have made local R&B new again.
“My dad did political science and he became a diplomat, but I think he always wanted to be a lawyer and he sort of passed that on to us,” she notes.
The 29-year-old singer found her voice in varsity, after her roommate’s boyfriend had heard her singing and invited her to join a band. She thought she was going to sing backup and was more than happy to do that — Mariah Carey had started as a backup singer. But, to her surprise, she was the lead singer and the band Redwood was formed. For most of her varsity years, they performed at campus events and at Meropa Casino and Entertainment World in Polokwane.
After graduating in 2019, she went solo with the release of her debut single, Feel’s Like. A year later, during the Covid-19 pandemic, she self-recorded her first EP, Filahsofy, on her smartphone using the Apple software app GarageBand. She then released a six-track offering the same year, with songs such as Defiant and Hate Crowds taking off with R&B lovers. In 2021, she followed with her breakup EP, We’re Gonna Be Just Fine, before she was signed by Sony Music Entertainment Africa.
“I don’t really talk about that one [We’re Gonna Be Just Fine] that much,” she says. “I don’t like that I spent that much time on that situation. Even the title was a sentence and you know, when there is a sentence, you are going through the most.”
Filah has since found love (more on that later).
Her 18-track debut album On Air dropped in April, featuring fan-favourites Past Myself, Ready, and Call Me, plus guest appearances by Blxckie, Patty Monroe, Ndabo Zulu, and Mars Baby. “The album is inspired by the media and how the media influenced my desire to become an artist, watching Destiny’s Child on TV and listening to The Cheetah Girls,” she explains. “On the album there are these radio skits that make your feel like you are driving in a car.” Not only do R&B fans love her sound, but she has also gotten the nod at the SA Music Awards (Samas), Basadi in Music Awards (Bima), and Metro FM Music Awards.
“2024 has been challenging, meaningful, eye-opening, hilarious, and all about womanhood,” she says. “This is the first time when I could confidently say, ‘I’m fully a woman and no longer a girl.’ I love this grown version of me.”
Real name Reabetswe Fila Ranamane, she was born to a diplomat father and geography-teacher mother. Her stage name, Filah Lah Lah, is an homage to her grandmother, with whom she shares her middle name and who was nicknamed “Lala”.
“The first few years of my life, I got to travel and see the world, which is why I speak funny,” she says referencing her hodgepodge accent. Filah spent the first five years of her life in Los Angeles and then lived in Indonesia for the next five. “Being introduced to different cultures in such aggressive ways moulded how I am with people and how receptive [I am] to everything,” she adds.
Her family returned to SA when she was 10, moving to Pretoria East. “I’m not going to say where exactly, because everyone is going to think that I’m bougie,” she laughs. “High school was when it was cemented that I’m South African. Don’t let the English accent fool you, ke motho wa mo gae [I’m fully South African]. I don’t think I ever fully fitted in, but I was accepted. I didn’t like school because it didn’t agree with me. I would have benefitted more from homeschooling. I was just not stimulated enough; I felt boxed in.”
Away from her budding music career, Filah has found love. “I have a great relationship,” she says. “He directed my visual album and he’s on his way to becoming one of the best directors in the country. That’s my bestie.”
Filah is most at home performing live. I first got a taste of her unique sound during an unforgettable experience in September when she staged an intimate concert at Untitled Basement in Braamfontein, Joburg, with fellow songbird Shekhinah cheering her on and singing along front row. Her joy onstage is genuine and contagious. For that reason, Filah’s big dream is to tour globally — that is, if she’s not too busy collaborating with her heroes Robert Glasper, Frank Ocean, SZA, Elaine, Tyla, and Lordkez.
