I am not riding on my father’s name to get fame – Oge, Ras Kimono’s daughter

       
By SAM ANOKAM

Like her father, Oge Kimono, daughter of legendary reggae artiste, Ras Kimono is definitely on course to break new ground in desire to launch herself into the hall of fame.

As a rising reggae artiste, Oge is currently working towards reviving the dying reggae music in the country no matter what it will take her to achieve this dream.

*Oge

Having honed her skills in Europe , young Oge is back in the country to a statement with her music.

In a recent chat with Showtime Celebrity, the rising female reggae star said, “I thought it was time for me to come back home, having garnered enough experience in the international scene. I decided to return to Nigeria to pay my dues like every other person.

I don’t believe in jumping the line, I am not the kind of artiste that rides on my father’s name to get a break. I believe in working hard and I have been putting in all my efforts to make the difference. Currently, I am not signed on to any label. Whatsoever I am doing now, I am doing it out of my own pocket. I am trying to see how I can revive reggae music in the country.”

Continuing, she said, “In as much as we do expect to get a return from our sweat, money is not the first thing I see when it comes to music. What I see is getting the message across to the people. Coming back home, I realized that reggae was on the lull. Young people like myself are not even ready to identify with  the genre because they believed it is not profitable. So, they want to be on the fast lane and make quick money.

Fortunately, I also know a couple of youths who are into reggae music but do not have the platform and push for their music to be heard. That is what Oge Kimono has come to do. I have come to pave the way for those who have been silent for a long time, and of course, to bring reggae music back to where it was previously.

Indeed, Oge is the scion of Kimono, a reggae icon and surely, her influences would stem from her father’s background. But how wrong was that assumption as she rightly pointed out; “It doesn’t really have to do with my father. Sincerely, growing up, I didn’t really like reggae music. I was more into hip hop, country music, jazz, R n B. I rather found reggae music boring and I didn’t understand Patua because it was strange to me.

I remember when other kids were celebrating their birthdays, they play my dads songs. I tell them, don’t play that on my birthday, I want to listen to  hip hop songs and R n B. I actually started connecting to reggae music at the age of 15. I would take out time to listen to the lyrics and said to myself, this is really cool. It is talking about your immediate society and things happening around you. I connected with reggae music one on one and coming from a reggae background also boosted it all.”

Why I’m taking after my father

Apart from her discovery, she also talked about other influences that made her delved into reggae music like her father.

“I listen to great reggae artistes like Bob Marley, Peter Tosh  and other Jamaican born reggae artistes. There is this lady called Queen Africa, she is also a very good reggae artiste. She is one woman who speaks and you feel this is exactly what I am talking about. Listening to her music influenced me a lot. And of course, the likes of Lauren Hill, anytime I want to do a lovers’ rock tune, I listen to her music. “

Being optimistic, Kimono’s daughter currently managed by Michael Odiong of Premier Music believes that even though reggae is going into extinction in Nigeria, she is ready to pay the price of  returning the genre to its lost glory.  She explains how she intends to achieve this onerous task.

“ I am privileged to be working with Michael Odiong he has had so much belief in the course I am pursuing and he has been giving me all the support that I need. We are looking at doing big things togther.

Planning a mini-show with my father

We are looking at getting a slot at the Felabration and want to put up a mini show with my father, Ras Kimono and try to give other reggae artistes that haven’t had the opportunity to come out in the limelight, an opportunity to perform. It basically going to be a reggae thing. Of course, we are also looking at getting slots at other big shows.

It’s a lot of work that we have to do, and I am happy that I have somebody like Odiong backing me up because it can be very challenging to be a female artiste, and not just a female artiste, a reggae artistes. It is like trying to raise up the dead. Reggae music is dead. I have gone to places where I try to sing and they say, you sing well, but it’s reggae, it won’t sell and I tell them, I am not doing reggae for it to sell.

I am doing music for people to hear the message. It’s going to take a while but this is something I have taken upon myself and I am ready to bear that load and carry the cross. I don’t think I am going to delve into another genre of music.  I would say my father is my biggest role model because he has stayed through to his dreams all these years. He didn’t try to deviate from what he believed in or delve to any other kind of music because of the material gains. I really admire and that is the legacy I am here to keep.”

Still working on her album, Oge has released a single titled, Drum and Base. The Patua speaking Kimono who is currently an undergraduate of Economics, University of Abuja and working assiduously in making a name for herself in Nigeria is currently working with a genius producer as well as considering collabos with other artistes.

“The guy that produced the ‘Drum and Base’ is a Nigerian producer called Jizo. I actually did it in Abuja and of course, I am looking at working with a couple of other producers. I have heard a couple of things done by the likes of Cobhams, I would like to work with somebody like that because sound matters a lot.

Infusing dancehall with fuji music

I definitely would want to bring in my father, if not in my song, probably remixing one of his songs. For the new genertaion of artistes, I admire somebody like Flavour because he is very original. Infusing reggae and highlife is something I would like to do in future because I like doing things that are different. I would like to do something with Omawumi because she is original as well and I have been going crazy with this girl called ‘Omo Ibadan’. She has the kind of energy that I have, the dancehall energy. I am also looking  to  merging dancehall with fuji music. I don’t know how its going to work out, I cannot even picture how its going to sound. But I  know it’s something that I want to do; something different.”

Having lived in Germany for eight years, the rising reggae star expressed her love for the Jamaican language as well as how she was appreciated because of her music performances in Europe .

“My father speaks Patua, so we speak Patua in our  house and having lived in Germany for about eight years, most of my friends were Jamaicans. So, we speak Patua all the way.

I started music official at the age of 18, singing with my father’s band. After which I travelled to Germany where I worked with the likes of Two Clan, Nigerian born two brothers  based in Germany , Ade Bantu, Ova Banta, who happened to one of the biggest reggae artistes in Germany . I played a couple of concert in Europe as well, mostly in the Reggae Festivals like the Summer Jam, Reggae, Jam. I  did a couple of shows in Switzerland with Ade Bantu, did others in Austria with Rocky Dahoney, a USA based Ghanaian. I have been around in the music industry though not back home. ”

However, talking about her love life, this pretty, fair complexioned ‘Tomboy’ said,“For now, my music comes first, the man can wait. Of course, I love men, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t swing that way.”

Between Nigerian and German music

“First of all, what I think is missing in respect of Nigeria’s artistes is soul. I feel like they are not connecting well with the music itself. It’s another thing to sing, but you have to feel music to do music. It’s not about making money now,but  it’s about your music being evergreen. Also, when it comes to concert organization and shows, it unfortunate that Nigeria has a high rate of manipulation so most things are being lobbied for.

When I came back home ,I was quite disappointed at the shows I attended because the sound weren’t excellent. They have a big sound problem. This is not because we don’t have sound engineers but because we have people who have sat there and don’t want to give the younger people a chance to come and show what they have in stock.

They have been running this thing for over a decade and feel, it is their territory. So, they want to sit and die there. If we keep maintaining this ideology, things would never change. Well, it is also understandable that we are still developing when it comes to music. There is no comparison at all, but there is enough room for growth.”

For reggae fans who may want to know the kind of genre she has adopted and whether she would     continue with social commentaries as her father has done in the past, the dreadlock carrying artiste replies you; “My kind of music, I do dancehall reggae, lovers rock and conscious music which is the roots reggae. I try to infuse different elements of music.

Sometimes, it would sound a bit puppish because I want to have that dancehall feel that is the party song to catch up with the underaged crowd, but of course, my conscious reggae is where I talk about things that are happening in the society that people are over looking which needs immediate attention and which those in power should try to sort out. And of course,  my lovers’ rock is basically dedicated to the lovers. There are sometimes you want to tell a man something that you really don’t know how to express it. This is where lovers’ rock come in.

Definitely, I actually recorded a song called Injustice and I went all out there to propagate the message.  Sometimes, I go below the belt, we are the people and the ones to speak, its democracy. I would speak my mind and speak for the people. And that’s basically what Oge Kimono is allabout.”

However, if you think her father is behind her financially, then you need to rethink. Oge reveals, “the man does the little that he can. I am a very independent person. In as much as he wants to do more, I try not to let him do it because I am an adult.”Source