Chase
Afroway: Hey Chase, what’s good?
Chase: Hey, I’m all good!, Chillin’…You good?
Afroway: Oh yeah, easy…What’s new in Kigali…Assuming that you are in the good city?
Chase: Yea yea!? I am…same old! The hustler, I’m actually at the studio vibin’
Afroway: Aah…that’s cool, hope you're making new stuff for our kind…
Chase: Trust, got stuff for y’all! Can’t wait to share…
Afroway: Awesome, looking forward to
Chase: Yeah, yeah! hope y’all will get to vibe with it!,
Afroway: Nice… guess we should get on this right away…
Chase: Yeah, that’s cool
Afroway: Great! Alright …What defines Chase? Tell us something about you…
Chase: I’m a Rwandan-based recording artist/producer. I’ve a creative passion which I try to put out through singing and rapping, coz I’m more into R&B HipHop type vibe. I tend to speak my heart out when I make my records, coz I want to make that kinda music people can relate to. I guess that’s all I can say
Afroway: You grew up in Rwanda? What does Rwanda represent to you and your art?
Chase: Yeah, I grew up in Rwanda, though I did my primary school in Uganda, but after that, Rwanda is where I’ve been…. Rwanda to me is all my inspiration, from people I’ve met through the years and all I aspire to be as an artist!, which is reppin’ the motherland!, And even though I don’t make music in Kinyarwanda, but music itself to me is a language, my roots are here!, This country is all I am
Afroway: That’s incredible stuff right there, your roots define you and your expressions as an artist; without them, you are as plastic as they come
Chase: Exactly!
Afroway: Now to music, your first Album ‘Wait2Wait’ was released last year, how has the reception been?
Chase: People did love that…, It was actually surprising!, I think even now people still come to me like you got a dope album ‘Wait2Wait’ and I dropped a mixtape this year, but all that stuck in their heads is ‘Wait2Wait’ which I like cause that project meant a lot to me too!. They still ask me to make videos for other songs on there too, cause I’ve only done one video for Control, I was just surprised to see how they received that project!
Afroway: That should be dope… How about the mixtape? How and why did you decide to do the mixtape?
Chase: Actually, the idea was an album, but the songs didn’t click as one, and I guess it’s because all the songs that are on there, I wrote them right in the studio! I think the first five songs were done in two days coz we were paying for studio fees so we wanted to get the best out of the days we paid for!, so I didn’t feel like there was too much work done on those songs and there was not much of connection between me and the songs, I guess I was like lemme not sleep on these cause people that listened to them fucked wit’em so I was like let me drop it as a mixtape!, and at the time we were working on another project too ‘Mothaland Vibes’ that came out in November so I had to be there for that too!, I had no me time to make an album!
Afroway: Guess the way of an artist…, the mixtape compilation, how many producers did you work with?
Chase: It’s one producer and me, actually, Eloi El… I like to work with one producer on a project, especially when it’s an album, but then for the sound, there’s gotta be someone to master the tracks. And I’m kinda excited for my next project coz I’m working with a different producer, so it’s a different vibe from what I’ve been doing, but it’s the best to me now!, I hope people will like that too.
Afroway: That’s great, the next project should come already! You must be one to own your productions… Do you give the other you are working with leeway to do as they see fit on the project or while contributing to it? Or do you take control of everything on the project?
Chase: Yeah, I do! I’m always open to ideas!, But especially now, the producer I’m working with was like Hey, I have something u might like and it was dope, so we started working! And Nah…, mostly I add on or start with the idea and let them develop that idea
Afroway: That’s a progressive approach… How has your music journey been before the ‘Wait2Wait’ project?
Chase: I think before ‘Wait2Wait’ it was just me trying to find my sound and all, and there was lot of pressure actually from my producer coz he thought I was good but me, I didn’t think that was my best so I kept it low key…, but he wanted me to be out there so I think before that I was just experimenting on myself music wise, trynna find myself, coz I used to only rap and write for my friends that sang at the time
Afroway: Rapper and singer… What comes first when you are writing a song? Like, you gonna rap first or sing… Like what comes first in your thought-to-write process
Chase: Depends on the vibe, but rapping comes when I feel like the singing is much, and I have to switch, and singing comes like that too, but mostly singing comes so easy for me, I’d say.
Afroway: Interesting… Guess we’d say you are a singer first?
Chase: I guess so,
Afroway: Haha, yes indeed… going back to ‘Wait2Wait’…Do you think the project has achieved what you intended for it?
Chase: I think it did! But now with my vision, I think it’s a project that could’ve done better than it did, if I had the kinda connection I have now and the mindset as well…
Afroway: So probably the next project will enjoy much of that…
Chase: Exactly
Afroway: Before we caught you, you were busy at work…What else are you involved in apart from music?
Chase: I have a clothing shop that’s what I was on…, but I have someone there for me so that I get to do my stuff, yeah…
Afroway: Great… Guess you encompass an artist’s entrepreneurial spirit. Is it like your line of clothing or an overall wear shop?
Chase: It’s a wear shop atm…, but in the future, that’s the idea I’mma put the shine on! And that’s right, music doesn’t pay enough to support you know,
Afroway: You say it doesn’t pay much… Picking from that…What is your observation of the Rwandan music scene? How much has it transformed or grown? Do you think it is headed in the right direction?
Chase: Yeah, I think it is!…, actually it’s something that everybody can notice now, I think the new generation of artists right now here have a different mindset, and we are all thinking big!, in the future it’s going to be different.
Afroway: Still on that train of thought, but to deviate. As a young artist…What does it mean to be African for you today?
Chase: Man, that’s a blessing! We Africans were blessed, and now we are realizing it, so this is something I’m really proud of, because the big thing is right here! In Africa and it was always here!
Afroway: Like everyone can see Africa is the future man… Look at all looking at us, you know…
Chase: Exactly, man! Honestly speaking! Our Africa is what everybody is now looking to
Afroway: He’ll, yeah, we fucc with the best aura, you know
Chase: We’re blessed! On God!
Afroway: Lastl,y man… You’ve been hinting at the good stuff you're working on for your fans and those to be. Paint us a picture of what's next after ‘Wait2Wait’ in terms of content features and such
Chase: Always…., I’m working on a 12 song project which I’m done recording and all!, but I’m now making some videos and still on the mastering last tracks!, It’s my best work to be honest!, and I’m so excited! For now I’d say no features coz I kinda worked in a bubble plus, the project itself is too personal but it’s not done yet, maybe one or two features might come to be coz I want that too!, but before that…, there’s another project that I’m working on it’s a joint EP with one of the producers here and it’ll come before the album! And it might come soon, too!
Afroway: That’s great stuff, a lot of things lined up, why the EP before the album, is it some kind of a precursor to?
Chase: Nah, not really, it’s all alone, it has its own vibe.., it’s just something me and that producer worked on and we want it to be out!
Afroway: That’s awesome stuff, can’t wait for that, gotta get the different artistic approaches you bear through the two projects
Chase: Can’t wait to share it either, man! Hope y’all get to fuck with it! And thanks for this man appreciate…
Afroway: No, thank you, I appreciate you making time.
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