Hip-hop artist S7GMA’s latest single, “Now,” is a motivational anthem to remind us all to hold on — no matter what comes our way. S7GMA’s conscious single introduces listeners to the S7GMA sound.
S7GMA — pronounced “sigma” — is the solo act of an artist with years of prior experience in a group setting. The musician chose S7GMA as his moniker as a teenager because of its many underlying meanings.
“Sigma is the 18th letter in the Greek alphabet. When you turn 18, you’re free — it’s all up to you. Seven is also an important number in numerology. Seven is perfection,” explains S7GMA.
Originally from North Philadelphia, S7GMA relocated to Texas in junior high school.
“My uncle put me on old music,” shares the artist. “In junior high in Texas, I was allowed to express myself more. I started listening to different types of music.”
At that time, his friends began making parody songs (in the era of Weird Al and fellow creators).
“Then, my best friend (xiqt) dropped a real song and sent me the link. I was impressed in my head like, how did he do it? I thought you needed a million dollars in studio equipment to do so.”
After acquiring the software to get started (and a $100 microphone, courtesy of his mother), S7GMA was set.
S7GMA is a self-produced artist. Over the years, his sound has taken shape from experience and the influence of artists including Logic and Kid Cudi.
“My musical sound is in phases,” shares the musician. “It’s based on my mood. I have fun, commercial, poppy songs. Songs talking my talk. A love song coming out. But at the moment, I’m trying to stick with the S7GMA sound. My motivation is dark in a morbid-type way. My music is for people who have to learn the hard way.”
“Now” is about “welcoming listeners to your new forever.” The single is a positivity anthem, filled with affirmation. S7GMA hopes to remind listeners that pain does end and to hold on through the hardest of times.
To create the single, S7GMA began with a beat that took time to build.
“I had a beat that I started with a melody last year. At the beginning of this year, I was having thoughts about it. So, for the first three months, I locked myself in a room and opened the beat. I produced all the music from scratch. Piano, synth pads, strings, then drums. From there, I got to writing everything I was feeling in that moment. I was in the mindset of, ‘It’s been 11 years, so go ahead and stop wasting time. Time doesn’t wait for anyone. Get it now.’”
With his quest for sigma perfection, S7GMA learned to engineer his vocals to work perfectly with his unique sound. Over the past four years, he’s been mastering music production, first on FL Studio.
“I was tired of buying beats on YouTube and searching for this-artist-type beats. I’d like one of every 100 beats. I don’t rap about the same things others do. I got tired of looking for them. So, I got FL Studio and bought equipment, then watched YouTube videos to mimic what they do until I had the muscle memory down. It’s paying off one thousand percent.”
When he’s not creating new music, S7GMA is showcasing his talent to live audiences. In mid-July, he has a live show in Austin and another lined up in Houston toward the end of the month. He also plans to drop his EP, Mind Of Me, this fall.
Alongside “Now,” S7GMA has another single, “Sorry,” available on all streaming platforms, as well as a video for the single on YouTube.
Make sure to stay connected to S7GMA on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts.
ON THE RISE
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LOS ANGELES — Damion Seraglio Bond and Hannah Leyla are turning up the heat with “Pina in Your Colada,” a playful tropical duet built around flirtation, humor and the kind of chorus that practically demands a room full of people sing along.
Featured as the opening track on Tropical Vacay, “Pina in Your Colada” drops listeners directly into vacation mode. Tiki lights are glowing, steel drums are playing, drinks are flowing and Hannah and Damion are trading lines back and forth like two people who have decided subtlety can wait until after the trip.
That exaggerated approach was intentional.
“I worried that if I hewed too closely to a serious sexual expression, today’s rather Me-Too sensitive folks might misinterpret the point of the song,” songwriter and creator Lloyd Eric Cotsen said. “By keeping it light-hearted and even cheesy over the top, it’s clearly aiming for fun.”
Cotsen envisioned the track as the kind of local favorite heard at a packed tropical bar, where vacationers already know every word and become part of the performance. That idea shaped the song’s crowd vocals and call-and-response structure, including Hannah’s equally confident answers to Damion’s advances.
Creating that chemistry, however, became one of the biggest challenges behind the track.
Cotsen used AI music platform Suno to develop the recording, but directing the male and female vocals proved considerably harder than expected. He ultimately worked through more than 160 versions while trying to get the exchanges right, eventually bringing elements from separate versions to a sound engineer to create the final result.
That persistence helped produce one of the song's defining elements: a performance that feels less like a conventional studio recording and more like stumbling into a beach bar where the entire crowd already knows the chorus.
“Recreating the vibe of a live performance in a bar with a crowd finishing the lines of a song they know and love was something I would have bet Suno couldn’t do,” Cotsen said. “It did it masterfully.”
That atmosphere also made “Pina in Your Colada” a natural opener for Tropical Vacay. Cotsen wanted the album to function almost like a vacation soundtrack, maintaining a tropical atmosphere while moving between comedy, romance and more reflective moments.
“It seemed like the most fun, captured the tropical spirit of the album best,” he said of choosing the song as its first track.
The project continues Cotsen’s genre-hopping approach to songwriting. His work has moved through folk-country, blues, soul, gospel and dance, while Tropical Vacay gives him room to explore Trop Rock and the stories that emerge when people temporarily leave their everyday lives behind.
For Hannah and Damion, that means a relationship that is flirtatious, competitive and occasionally more complicated than the beach-bar antics suggest. Cotsen describes the pair as having a “playfully combative romantic relationship,” with Hannah written as a confident character who can give Damion every bit as much as she gets.
And the fictional duo may eventually move beyond the digital world. Cotsen plans to host a concert with live singers performing selections from his catalog within the next year while continuing work on several additional albums.
For now, “Pina in Your Colada” offers a simpler invitation: turn it up, embrace the ridiculousness and pretend the nearest drink comes with a tiny umbrella.
“Pina in Your Colada” is available now on Spotify as part of Tropical Vacay.
