He placed sixth on the third season of The Voice South Africa and now, Yahto Kraft is ready to make a name for himself in a big way. The singer has premiered his debut single ‘Ugly’ which is an inspiring track about self-love.
Written by Yahto with Matthew Marinus back in 2016 when he was just 16 years old, the singer took an experience of heartbreak and turned it on its head, writing a song that is fast becoming an anthem of sorts for those who have been downtrodden and victimized, encouraging them to believe that “you are enough” and giving them hope and inspiration to live to fight another day.
With strong pop and rock elements and its catchy beat, it’s the profound and inspiring words that capture your attention. Yahto, now 19 years old, explains the inspiration behind the song. “I was going out with friends and we were doing things we definitely were not supposed to and kissing people we weren’t supposed to. It just so happened that the boy I kissed was my crush for the longest time, so I was absolutely on top of the world! The next weekend we decided to do it all over again, and I thought he and I were going to turn into one of those couples you see in a movie but, alas, it flipped and went from a cheesy rom-com to a horror movie. When I tried to kiss him again, he just looked at me and said: “Dude, I was desperate and gone, you’re not my type, you’re fat and ugly.”
He continues; “Needless to say, my little heart was absolutely shattered. I went home and put my feelings into words. Thus, Ugly was born. I took this raw piece of work to the incredible Matthew Marinus and he helped fine-tune my lyrics into an actual song.”
The song was recently re-worked into a more glam rock sound with influences such as Queen and The Darkness. “I wanted people to relate, not only to the lyrics but to the feeling of the song,” Yahto says. “This song has a more anthemic rock n roll edge to it, this time round. This song now sounds exactly like it does in my dreams. It makes you feel nostalgic, with its glam rock flicks, yet it is completely new and now. It has some Queen in it, some David Bowie, some Alanis Morisette, some Janis Joplin, some The Darkness, but a whole lot of Yahto.
He continues; “It’s massive, it’s raw, it dares you to look your heartbreak right between the eyes and say ‘You don’t scare me anymore’. It’s not about my singular experience anymore, I don’t think it ever was. It’s a song about resilience. It’s a song about taking back your power. situation.”
Listen to ‘Ugly’ here:
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