With the festive season around the corner, the tradition of earmarking song of year candidates leading up to 2026 is well underway, and with a plethora of hits to choose from, to say that listeners are spoilt for choice is undercutting the current commercial value of the dance music in Mzansi. Piping hot and whistling into the hot scene is singer-songwriter Skyla Tylaa’s “Vele Uyena (Risk It All)”, featuring JAZZWRLD, Thukuthela, Elaine, and Solaariss.
Produced by the year’s most vibrant perfecter of the 3 Step movement JAZZWRLD, the single is a 3 Step-fusion of sorts that blends elements of classic R&B and soul, with the overall sonic aggregate given depth by the zest of jazz courtesy of Solaariss’s contribution with the saxophone. Calm and meditative in the beginning, “Vele Uyena” features JAZZWRLD’s signature production texture, the sound bouncing with steadiness and warming up the atmosphere to imbue the song with the easy-going tempo appropriate for a standard dance song predicated on the subject matter of love.
“Vele Uyena (Risk It All)” single cover art | SUPPLIED
A dance ballad at its core, “Vele Uyena (Risk It All)” makes use of threadbare songwriting, with the trio of singers Skyla, Elaine, and Thukuthela imparting shape and definition to the theme of love through their respective contributions. Rooted in the chorus (“Loluthando ngiyalucabangela, aaaah-aaaaah-aaaah-aaaaah / Loluthando ngiyalusebenzela, aaaah-aaaaah-aaaah-aaaaah”) the song reaffirms the value of maintaining a romantic relationship through mindfulness, diligence, consideration.
Setting the tone of the rally, the opening verse acknowledges the transient quality of love and the uncertainty that is part and parcel of being in a relationship without losing heart, with the crooning stating: “Feelings come and go, yes, I know / But in my heart is where you belong / I’d give it all, risk it all.” Brief as the verse is, it sets an inspiring mood, a positive foundation that is taken to higher emotional echelons by Thukuthela’s emotive performance, who taps into his chemistry with JAZZWRLD to replicate their run of form and to infuse the song with a vocal crescendo of power and variety to balance out the feminine touch.
Skyla Tylaa | SUPPLIED
Subtle but unmistakably potent, the soundwave combination and the curated guestlist makes for a soulful song groovy enough such that it is coded for late-night drives and also heartfelt in a sense that it can serve as another fixture in a playlist stitched together from the tender fabrics of the heart concerned with love and the inner gallery lined with portraits of that special somebody.
Check out “Vele Uyena”:
