“This album has origins, but no borders, no nationality”, said Hana Rahman in a recent interview.
And she means it. "
Once Upon a Time in Brum" is made from the fabrics of her life — not entirely biographical, but absolutely rooted in her experience as a young British-Indonesian woman navigating the complicated, brilliant, messy reality of modern Britain.
For those who only know Hana Rahman as “that girl who made the controversial track about dying in Birmingham” — welcome to the bigger picture.
Once Upon a Time in Brum isn’t here to play it safe or small. It’s sprawling and specific, autobiographical but half-dreamed, intimate yet meant for speakers that rattle walls. Sure, there are roots — Indonesian, Brummie, soundsystem deep — but no neat borders. This is the long way ‘round Rookery Road: past corner shops, block parties, family dinners, late-night bus rides. Rahman’s debut doesn’t chase easy identity or tidy genre boxes. Instead, she leans into the glorious mess — the louder, layered, cross-cultural mix that actually feels like real life.
A Brummie Odyssey in 16 TracksThe record opens with “
Prelude: Welcome to Brumtown”, a jazz-rap sax-laced intro that sets the tone for what’s to come: not just a tour of Hana’s Birmingham, but a re-imagining of it. "
Mama Wore Gold at the Airport” follows, a fantasised, wide-eyed arrival in Britain, as in a Bollywood movie. It’s hopeful, shiny, and knowingly exaggerated.
But "Once upon a Time..." is not a fairy tale. The struggle is real in "
BrickWallz", where Rahman explores the pain of alienation in a system not made for you. "
No Right Name" is quietly devastating, confronting the microaggressions of mispronounced names and the weight of accents that don’t “fit in.” Elsewhere, "
Asian Cutie" one of the album’s most striking moments, a subversive slice of electro-hip hop swagger, laced with vintage Indonesian melodies. dismantling the fetishization of Asian women with sharp lyrical precision and a grin in her voice.
Rahman first made her name behind the decks, spinning eclectic sets that swerved between Asian funk, ska, and vintage dub. That sensibility thrives on Once Upon a Time in Brum. This isn’t a singer-songwriter record or a DJ project—it’s both. And neither. Think clattering hip-hop beats colliding with jungle rhythms, Sri Lankan folk looping under electroclash synths, and R&B vocals dancing over samples from Bollywood golden age cinema.
“This Is the Sound of Brumtown”Yes, this is a Birmingham record — "
Steel City Dub", "
Brum Ting", and "
Bouncing Rookery Road" are perfect echos of the city— but it’s also a global one. In "
RAHMANISTAN F.M", the spiritual centre of the album, Rahman dreams up a swirling, Afrobeat-splashed vision of a borderless state built on rhythm and mixity, where no one is too “foreign” or “other” to belong. It’s positively chaotic, it’s warm, and it’s everything the country could be if we listened to our DJs more than our politicians.
There are moments of tenderness, too. "
Famili" is a warm reminder that family ties — sometimes messy and complicated — are the real backbone of identity. The interlude "
Dinner at 6.30pm" plays like you're sat in Hana’s kitchen, samosa in hand, Mum arguing in the background, reggae dub humming under the surface. Her stories are specific—but they echo across generations of migrant families. Elsewhere, On “
Bakulan Grocery Markt”, Hana paints the small-world intimacy of a family-run Indonesian grocery shop in Birmingham : sambal, neon lights, and price tags in two languages. Sounds like home.
Then there’s “
Jalan-Jalan” (Bahasa for “wandering” or "walk! walk!"), the next official single, and certainly the most rock infused track... too relatable for any woman who’s ever had to expérience street harassment.
The closing track, a cover of "
Must Catch a Train" from British ska legends Symarip, might catch you off guard. After all the chaos and critique, it’s tender, even romantic. It suggests that maybe—just maybe—love and joy could be one answer to the politics of integration. And maybe it’s just a nod to the small, ordinary joys that help people survive in cities that barely make space for them.
So yes, Once Upon a Time in Brum might be messy. It might be unclassifiable. But it’s also something much rarer: honest. And in a climate of cynical posturing and pre-chewed pop rebellion, Hana Rahman’s uncompromising debut is the realest thing you’ll hear this year.
And if you’re still trying to figure out where Hana Rahman fits? Don’t bother. She’s already left the station. Catch up, or get left behind.
"
Once Upon a Time in Brum" is out now on Head South Records. New single “
Jalan-Jalan” drops later this Summer.
OUT NOW
Tracklist – Once Upon a Time in Brum:Prelude: Welcome to Brumtown
Mama Wore Gold at the Airport
Steel City Dub
BrickWallz
No Right Name
Bakulan Grocery Markt
Ragam Stomp Gyal
Famili
Interlude : Dinner at 6.30pm
Brum Ting
Jalan-Jalan
Asian Cutie
RAHMANISTAN F.M
Bouncing Rookery Road
I Wanna Die In Birmingham
Must Catch a Train
Edited by user 26 July 2025 22:08:43(UTC)
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