Rising hip-hop/rap artist Roukimi is putting the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe on the map with his infectious flows, club-ready beats, and stylishly produced music videos. We caught up with the young artist this week to dive into his creative process, his latest single, and how he uses music videos and social media to his advantage to promote his music.
Can you tell us a little about yourself and your musical project?
I'm Roukimi, 23 years old, independent artist, from Baie-Mahault in Guadeloupe.
Can you tell us about your inspirations and the process of creation of your latest single "Investi"?
I have multiple inspirations as I don't necessarily have a single artist as inspiration. What really inspires me is my daily life, the life I lead every day, the daily problems.
What music was floating in your daily life when you composed it?
I was actually listening quite often to the sound of a friend of mine called Venero, unfortunately, the sound will probably never be released because he has stopped making music at the moment.
What was the creative process for the video clip? Did you produce the clip yourself?
Yes, the ideas for the video were brainstormed with the artist "Jooslyf" in collaboration with me on the sound. We did what was necessary to make the video fairly quickly.
Do you have an established strategy to promote your new music?
Strategy is a big word, my goal is to make good music with good visuals, and with each new video, try to innovate, find exciting things, try to use social networks in my favor. With each clip, you have to find a little touch to stand out from the last one.
What does it mean to you to be independent in music?
First of all, to be alone to finance, to be able to make your own decisions. For me, it's when you don't have a solid team behind you, for the organization, the paperwork, to get collaborations with brands, companies, etc. in order to reduce the costs of each project.
What are you working on at the moment and what do you have in store for 2021/22?
Right now I'm working on the release of my next album called "Instable", which is scheduled for December 2021. This is my first album, I have tried to be very demanding towards myself, in order to produce something of quality. Various features are planned, various styles and themes are being prepared, nice surprises are waiting.
Just like Roukimi, get your music on more than 200 digital platforms worldwide
Join our community of independent artists and labels