By GFM Editorial - February 15, 2023
Prepare to take a trip with NERIWEST on GUTEGEREZA ROHO, his debut studio album that drops on Wednesday, February 22, 2023 via NERIWEST / Green Ferry Music as imprint.
NERIWEST, Zima Blue. Pseudonyms… is a cofounder and creative director at Antik Dust (AD) a collective of creative artists using a blend of multiple disciplines to create a culture-rich community right in the heart of Africa (Rwanda). Also, a scholar of life (art), a researcher interested in culture and creative arts. Extremely curious and loves music, fashion, visual arts, performative arts, film, literature and philosophy.
NERIWEST started his music career with his fellow partners, Mvfasta and Ngaara from Antik Dust with their first studio album, EXIT, which was released on May 31, 2019, through Green Ferry Music. The album was supported by two promo singles: “Ibare” and “Ad. (Interlude)”. After their collective debut as AD, they had an idea to create a trilogy musical work: AMARASO UBWONKO ROHO (Blood Brain Soul) which every member had to create a solo album based on a collection of ideals and philosophies about the world as observed by our persons. NERIWEST narrates.
It is an attempt to understand life and communicate that very understanding of life through our art. These ideals and philosophies originate not so far from our reality; they are birthed from the conversations we have, and our personal reflections and they can be confirmed or denied through the test of Time. At the core of our belief is the fact that nothing is certain, yet everything can be. There is no right or wrong way to live, but there are options and alternatives — Ngaara’s AMARASO, Mvfasta’s UBWONKO and ROHO are our own.
ROHO is a trilogy, Gutegereza ROHO (Waiting for the Soul) is the first segment of this entity. NERIWEST said-. “Most songs on this album were composed during the COViD 19 Pandemic, meaning lockdowns, faceless expressions and social distancing (a state of isolation). For me as an artist, this meant way more. I was supposed to explore the soul but everything about those times brought me closer to the human instead. In the end it became clear that to get to the soul I had to first observe and understand its carrier “UMUNTU” (The Human). The human struggles of the pandemic times helped a lot, mostly in understanding and isolating the ego. Without the ego, I got to witness the human at its most vulnerable and accepting state so I took notes and they turned out to be poetic.”
Sonically, NERIWEST also created and collected soundtracks that resonate with that state. He selected key collaborators capable of shaping something around him rather than forcing him into a form he doesn’t fit. Mvfasta, Lil.i.an, Bill Ruzima, Sema Sole and Ngaara are featured as co-writers and performers, while Dr. Nganji, Lilian Müller, and NERIWEST himself shared production duties on the album.
GUTEGEREZA ROHO is an expression of truth, saying things as they are. Needs, cravings, desires, fantasies, feelings, dirt, cleanliness, ego, shadow… it is the human as a stone, completely isolated from the ego. A stone has no choice on its superficial state of being… it might build a citadel, strengthen the bank on which a river flows, be the diamond that humans are willing to kill and die for, maybe become the murderer of Goliath or forever be stuck under a shoe of a random person.
