There’s one word for Sydney’s Doe Ramada: prolific.

Releasing six projects in 2020, he’s already dropped over 30 sleek singles just three months into 2021. Born in Nigeria before moving to Australia aged 4, Ramada recalls being exposed to greats like OutKast, Lil Wayne and Dizzee Rascal in his youth. He also counts Raekwon, Ghostface and “the entire TDE roster” amongst his influences. The result is a genre-bending discography that traverses hip hop, rap, R&B and soul in a way that’s hard to pin down, and hard to walk away from. 

Ramada’s first release of 2021 was the drum and bass inspired ‘CLEAN’. It’s a bouncy track that highlights Ramada’s fast-paced flow, with a sound clearly influenced by the UK rap scene. A simple synth line underlies the track, punctuated with a glitchy electronic run every so often. One element found across a number of Ramada’s tracks, regardless of genre, is the inclusion of a spoken word dialogue. In ‘CLEAN’, this dialogue opens the track, setting the tone for what’s to come as Ramada launches into his verse. At just 2:20, ‘CLEAN’ achieves what it came to do in a punchy and effective way, without feeling cluttered. 

Not many artists can produce a wide-ranging body of work while maintaining the quality of the tracks. Doe Ramada manages both quality and quantity, which means more of a good thing for his listeners. With more releases guaranteed to come this year, it’s time to jump onboard the Doe Ramada train.

Tune in to Up For It with Courtney Ammenhauser every Monday from 6am to meet your Independent Artist of the Week!