Exposed Vocals Interviews Nation Rouge

Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

 

Nation Rouge: .We are Nation Rouge NR, a band of hiphop and rnb style consisting of four musicians whose three brothers Ced (real name Cedric Mangosa) DWIII (real name Daniel Mangosa), DDD (Jack Mangosa) and our friend Nan-Rayo (real name Moise Kpete). At first each of us was doing his solo music; it is in 2012 that we met and decided to make career together creating the Nation Rouge NR. We all grew up in Goma, a city located at the Eastern DRC and specifically in the province of North Kivu. It is this desire to express, share his world, to share his point of view, the desire to change something in the music that pushed us to become artist.

 

Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?

 

Nation Rouge: At the beginning, we just met nameless. It was during one of our first rehearsals, writing a song about the situation in which our country is that we got the name “Nation Rouge” Behind this song, there was an inspiration from our observation , from this revolution after this observation, this sense of “ras-le-bol” caused by poverty, injustice, … “Nation” is a group of several people, we took it because we are part of a nation, because we are also a whole; a set representing a whole, a nation representing a nation: the voice of this nation. “Rouge”, Red in English, symbolizes the blood; we have taken not only to symbolize the blood but to symbolize all forms of suffering. Thus we are called Nation Rouge NR, revolutionary army of the bloody nation in which we are part. Nation that is not geographically determined but morally determined.

 

Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?

 

Nation Rouge: .The sharing music online is a great thing in our view, a big step for culture and art in general as it further and repents as soon as possible an artistic work, he even shares a small thing to a big world. That is why even as we use it. Our music is free, but will not be forever. We are still in the first phase of our promotion, we are still looking to do more we know, and we try to reach more people, to make us discover the general public. The consumer must first test a product for once to be faithful; thus the consumer must also first find us taste of our music, enjoy and then buy what’s next.

 

Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

Nation Rouge: We can give music bands like Negro Style Empire, Street League Music…

 

Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?

 

Nation Rouge: We draw our inspiration in everything around us, in everything we see, everything we live, what we have already lived (memories, successes, failures, …), and especially in the Holy Scriptures. Apart this, we can also say that we draw from others, we make our music listening to other musicians. At first, everyone writes in his corner, drawing on everything according to the theme and after we do all the correction to finally adapt to the instrumental text, short to put musicality.

Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?

 

Nation Rouge: Yes, we have a website, the link is www.nationrougenr.tumblr.com        The flat musical forms we use are soundcloud, reverbnation, rap2kin, gomahiphop, kulunazik, kivustorebeat,…

 

Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?

 

Nation Rouge: .Not just having music in our head, we would start by financing our other projects and ensuring a future musical life possible but we make a studio for us to be musically active.

 

Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?

 

Nation Rouge: To promote our music we use the web, media (radio, TV) but the web currently operates the most.

 

Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

 

Nation Rouge:  We plan to do a few singles which will be followed by a maxi single and a suite album. We are now in the single’s preparation; there is no precision yet about the maxi-single and album. Apart that, we plan to get into discoveries events (festivals, competitions …)

Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

 

Nation Rouge: .If we do not do music, we can do many other things, among others, entrepreneurship, the development of major projects, participles wonders for the development of our country, our continent and of this planet.

 

Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?

 

Nation rouge: .Do one thing at a time, starting with the point.

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?

 

Nation Rouge: .For 2016, our fans should expect several surprises among other singles. It’s a trendy year because of heavy arrives.