 Five years after his two year stint being the keyboardist - organist - background singer to multi-platinum Grammy© winner Alicia Keys and a third botched recording deal, Rogiérs (pronounced Ro-ghe-ay) finally stands at the segue of ‘indie-artist with unyielding buzz’ and ‘certified breakthrough’ in R&B/Soul/Hip-Hop. A point that he always imagined but simultaneously disbelieves. “I’ve pursued this for so long that there’ve been moments when I forgot why I was doing it, and even more-that I actually could do it”, says the singer/songwriter/producer and label head.
For Rogiérs, observing the landscape of popular music during the last few years has brought both incredible hopes yet despair-not just as an artist but for the entire field. There was hope that the promise of his “sexy-soul” voice, “expressive” playing, “deliberate” lyrical viewpoints and yes, good looks-could be a revitalizing ingredient which the industry and so many listeners seemed to long for. But it also brought despair that maybe these values had been overstated. “I haven’t been ‘excited’ about a new artist in years…I can think of three or four artists in the last five years that I’ve actually been ‘excited’ about; two out of four either never came out or sold less than 250,000 records,” says Rogiérs of the genre’s monotonous trend. It’s a trend that has sedated music lovers and yielded many acts to obscurity after months of costly marketing campaigns.
It was these internal conflicts that conceived Rogiérs’ lead single “Life & Music feat. Big Tone” (produced by Dré Bowman, Rogiérs and Big Tone). Since its initial release, the single’s gained airplay stateside, Europe and abroad- most notably in the UK’s top R&B/Soul/Hip-Hop radio formats over a 6 month period. Born of an insightful conversation with close friend and EMI writer, Makeba (who penned hit singles for Beyoncé, Rhianna, J-Lo and B2K respectively), “Life & Music” explores the very real convictions of a do or die passion and an anxious desire to enjoy life’s necessities and simple pleasures.
Ironically the very convictions that created the debut “Life & Music: All of It.” soon became Rogiérs’s motivation to stay on track with his music and continue recording. “I always tell people who listen to the song for the first time that I’m ‘over’ making the decision [to choose] but it was a real question I had to ask myself”, he says. Don’t compare Rogiérs to R&B/Soul/Hip-Hop’s mainstays- there is room for “success and diversity” in the category, he says smiling. With his laundry list of worldwide performance credits both singing and playing, a hot new album and personal endorsements spanning from award-winning artists like Alicia Keys, Chaka Khan, Wil-i-Am (Black Eyed Peas) to Bilal, Dwele, and Wajeed (Bling47) for starters, it’s a good thing Rogiérs chose music.
© 2008 Fibby Music Group www.FibbyMusic.net
Playlist featured from Rogiérs CD "Life & Music: All Of It":
01 - Rogiérs - Life & Music
02 - Rogiérs - Hollywood Story (Feat. Bilal)
03 - Rogiérs - Come Into My World
Background music during interview:
Astral22 feat. CJ Anthony - Soulinterviews Intro Song, Rogiérs - Whatever I Gotta Go.
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