ROUGE!!
It’s the kind of colour that portrays fire! Blood! Energy! War! Danger! Strength! Power! Determination! Passion! Desire! And Love! Red is a very emotionally intense colour. Much like our artist of the day! Miss Barbara ‘Rouge’ Wedi
Hey there Waking Life readers, thanks for joining me today
as we’ll be reading all about a young, fresh & up-and-coming female rapper
making quite a name for herself in the music industry here in South Africa! Born
of Congolese heritage, Rouge is breaking the status quo of what a Congolese
woman should be like, & bursting out onto the scene with her somewhat vigorous
approach to the game.
Growing Up Congolese
We (The Congolese community) all know what it’s like to grow
up in a home where being educated was the only way to get out & make it. If
you DARED to stray away from that, they’d BEAT you avec les ceinture! No lie.
So Rouge, breaking the barriers she’s broken, is inspiring many others, not
just the Congolese community but those held back by tradition as well, to go
after what they want no matter what the nay sayers say. But I can assure you,
with a dad that’s a doctor, a business woman for a mother, an older brother in
politics, two sisters with masters degrees & another about to become a
lawyer, it wasn’t easy for her to pursue her dreams with the out most respect
& support from her family members.
Rouge: “I grew
up like everyone else you know?
It’s just that, when I wanted to become an entertainer, my family was not having it, which is something I’m sure a lot of people can relate to. Even in high school, while I was always good at singing, to them it was just something I’d grow out of, so when I decided to pursue it as a dream/career, things didn’t sit right with them for a while, but now they see that I’m serious about it & that things are going well so I have their backing.”
It’s just that, when I wanted to become an entertainer, my family was not having it, which is something I’m sure a lot of people can relate to. Even in high school, while I was always good at singing, to them it was just something I’d grow out of, so when I decided to pursue it as a dream/career, things didn’t sit right with them for a while, but now they see that I’m serious about it & that things are going well so I have their backing.”
This is a common issue with anyone whose parents came from a
foreign country & is now trying to give their children the lives that they
deserve, but despite all of this Rouge found the strength to persevere &
not wither under the pressure.
Performing at every talent show, & constantly being asked to sing in
front of large crowds, Rouge’s path was predetermined already. The World was
just going to have to wait & see greatness unfold.
A Star Is Born
Rouge always knew that she was going to be an entertainer,
but little did she know that deep down inside of her, was the beating heart of
a pretty bad ass, lyrical MC! After much consideration, she picked the name
Rouge because (as she says) it was just everything she embodied.
Rouge: “It
was actually in my matric year of high school, at an award ceremony, that I got
discovered. They had asked me to sing & I wasn’t too keen on doing it
because I’d been singing for five years now, I was tired of it! But I did it
anyway, got up there & sang for the last time in high school, & there
was actually a record producer who was there (Can’t disclose he’s name
nor his label due to legal purposes) & he saw me singing, came up to me &
said that he thought I had something special, & yeah from there things just
went up for me.
One day, during a recording session, things were
very flat in the studio & my producer called me over & asked me to say
my lyrics instead of singing them.
As strange of a request as this was, I did it anyway & he asked me if I ever thought of rapping & I was like ‘Hell no.’ I’d never done it before, so it was quite scary for me but now I can’t imagine myself doing anything else.
As strange of a request as this was, I did it anyway & he asked me if I ever thought of rapping & I was like ‘Hell no.’ I’d never done it before, so it was quite scary for me but now I can’t imagine myself doing anything else.
After I got discovered my producers asked me to
pick a stage name & the word ‘Red’ just popped straight into my head. It
just has so many meanings behind it such as ‘love’ ‘anger’ ‘passion’ ‘RAGE’,
which are all those things I have inside me & are the things which make me
stand out. Then I thought, why not incorporate my Congolese side into it? I’m
Congolese, I speak French, so why not mix it up & call myself the French
version of red, which is “Rouge” & that’s how the name came about.’
From being a normal high school girl, to becoming a singer,
now a rapper, Rouge has adopted the art form, known as Rapping, as 2nd
nature to her. Even after receiving criticism such as “she’s trying to be like
the next Nicky Minaj” or “she’s not that good”, Rouge pushed on, & her song
“Real Talk” ended up having its Music video appear on Africa’s No.1 music
Channel – ‘Channel O’
Rouge: “Yeah
people pretty much underestimated me.
I think it’s because everyone saw me as a singer & now that I was trying to do something new, it was somewhat of a shock to them. But I was ready for it all. The criticism, the love & the hate, all of it. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy especially because I was trying to be a female rapper in South Africa, which is pretty much un-heard of. Little did they know how determined I was to prove them wrong. I’m the kind of person where if you say ‘No, you can’t pull it off’ I’m like ‘#ChallengeAccepted’ “
I think it’s because everyone saw me as a singer & now that I was trying to do something new, it was somewhat of a shock to them. But I was ready for it all. The criticism, the love & the hate, all of it. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy especially because I was trying to be a female rapper in South Africa, which is pretty much un-heard of. Little did they know how determined I was to prove them wrong. I’m the kind of person where if you say ‘No, you can’t pull it off’ I’m like ‘#ChallengeAccepted’ “
Now if you live in RSA, you know that the men are killing
it. They come through like a storm ready to devour anything in their path,
leaving the women so far behind that even the speed of Hussein Boltz won’t help
them catch up. Though, the women are partially to blame. They haven’t really
brought it & when they do deliver, they die out in less than two months. So
what’s to say that this is not going to happen to miss Rouge?
Rouge: ‘To
a certain extent, yeah women have shot themselves in the foot. It’s so bad that
the public would much rather accept a mediocre male rapper than tolerate
another female rapper. So I don’t blame the guys, you can’t hate on talent, but
I see it as my job to, like I said, break the stereotype, and now that I have
the support of my friends & family, who’s to say that I can’t?
I just got to stay humble about it because I
know how quick success can get to one’s head. At the end of the day, the talent
given to me is not my own but that of God’s. I also just keep in mind that our
family came from humble beginnings, so I’m just grateful for what I have”
Even though the rap industry is filled with artists that
talk about sex, drugs & money (basically everything that goes against the moral
standard of a devoted Christian) Rouge has maintained that she does not need to
talk about those things to be successful even though she knows that those
topics sell records! Judging by the response that she’s gotten from the public,
this fact seems to hold true. When asked about then why should people even
consider buying or downloading her music? Her response was:
Rouge: “Well, like you, I’m a story teller. People
can relate to my stories, & even though sex sells, I personally feel that I
don’t need to show off some skin to get your attention. I can do it just as
good as any guy so why do I need to subject myself to the booty shorts &
heels? I’ll just let my lyrics do the talking & the individual can decide
for themselves as to whether or not it’s worth giving a listen.
I also think that my lyrics
inspire people so much. I mean I’ve had people say things like ‘thank you for
being different & showing everyone there’s a woman out there who can do it
just as well as a fella can.’ I mean I really do concentrate on my lyrics,
because I know there’s going to be a point a point in time where people are
going to be like ‘Okay, we’ve seen how you look, now let’s hear what you can
do’ & at that point my looks won’t matter. If I’m being honest, I have such
belief in myself that I KNOW I’ll be able to perform just as well as A.K.A or
anyone for that matter.
When the world is like ‘you’re
like this’ I’m the one rapper, female rapper, that’s going to be different and
just show the world that it’s okay for you to want to be different.”
Although Rouge does not have a specific artist that she
looks up to, she says that Lauren Hill comes pretty close. Reason being is
that, although Lauren Hill has died out, her music is still being played today
& she was the one female rapper that was real & vicious, which is
exactly what Rouge is trying to accomplish.
Rouge: “Music is constantly changing, so to stay in
this game, you constantly have to re-invent yourself! It’s unfortunate that
Lauren Hill died out but I guess that just makes way for me to take over from
her hahaha.”
What to Expect
Rouge: “Expect a lot of fun from me. There’s just so
much fun in my music, the kind of music that makes you want to get up and dance
but at the same time something real. Music that’ll be known for quite a while!”
Well that’s it for this article
folks! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. And for
those who have dreams of breaking the status quo & following their dreams,
just do it man! Go for it! If a girl whose folks came all the way from Congo
can do it, then why can’t you? There are absolutely NO LIMITS as to what your
abilities can achieve.
As for Rouge; the sky seems to be
the limit for this young star. New Music
Video called ‘My Moment’ coming out & if you’d like, you can listen to her
new single ‘The Breakup Song’ right here: http://www.hulkshare.com/d4wgef18aby8
That’s it for this week! Join me
again next time when I bring you the life & times of today’s young, fresh
& up-and-coming rising stars.
Until then, take care of
yourselves & each other
PEACE!!!!!
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