Music
Rouge: Five of her biggest tracks
Versatile and exciting, these five tracks prove why Rouge is at the top of her game
Born in Pretoria to parents from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Deko Barbara-Jessica Wedi, better known as Rouge, started rapping in 2011 at the age of 19 to the RnB songs she’d been composing. Having released her first single in 2014, Rouge would go on to win Best Female Artist at the South African Hip Hop Awards three short years later.
The following year, her debut album, “The New Era Sessions”, was released alongside a short film, which among other accolades, earned her the Best Micro Budget Film Award at the South African Film and Television Awards. Since then, she has expanded her range as an artist, exploring different sounds and collaborations, helping her branch out beyond rap and local borders. Here we look at five of her biggest tracks from the last few years.
Mbongo Zaka (feat. Moozlie) 2016
While she’d already dropped her first two singles in 2014, including a collaboration with BigStar Johnson called “Mi Corazon”, and featured on AKA’s remix of “Baddest” the following year, it wasn’t until Rouge’s 2016 single “Mbongo Zaka” featuring Moozlie, that the rapper would top the charts for the first time. Having met and connected while recording the “Baddest” remix, the two decided to collaborate on this Tweezy production. The trap-leaning track is 808-heavy, with a simple plucked-chord progression carrying the two rapper’s vocals. The title is a nod to Rouge’s Congolese heritage, a combination of Lingala and local slang for money, and sees the two dropping verses about getting paid.
MORE ABOUT ROUGE'S 64 BARS EPISODE
Dololo (feat. Bigstar) 2017
The following year, Rouge released her debut album, “The New Era Sessions”, which debuted locally at the number 2 spot on the iTunes charts. She releases five singles for the album including “Sheba Ngwan’o” and “No Strings”, but it was the album’s second single, “Dololo” featuring Bigstar, that really took 2017’s summer by storm. On the track, Rouge exposes those posers that pretend to have a lifestyle that they can’t actually afford, and instead encourages women to aspire to be their own bosses instead of relying on men that have nothing (“dololo”) to offer. The fun, upbeat production is a collaboration between Zambian producer Mae N. Maejor and Canada’s K-Beatz, with additional production by Ron Epidemic.
Popular (feat. Emtee) 2019
Her second single after signing with Sony Music Entertainment Africa that March; 2019’s “Popular” saw Rouge once again rap over a Mae N. Maejor production, created alongside Wichi 1080. The bouncy track features a surprising collaboration with Emtee and sees Rouge celebrating the rise in popularity of herself and other artists of the “new school”, saying that “it’s about finally being noticed by the people that never wanted to notice us in the beginning, now we the ones that they coming to get opportunities. It’s about the come-up and finally being at that point where we play a major role in the hip-hop game.” She would go on to further celebrate this new wave of artists on the track's remix by featuring the likes of Costa Titch, Phantom Steeze, Tumi Tladi, Hanna, and Blxckie.
One by One (feat. AKA) 2020
While they had connected early in her career, “One by One” was the first time Rouge and AKA had an exclusive collaboration. Connecting over a tender, radio-friendly Tweezy production, the track sees Rouge move away from her rap roots into a more pop-leaning direction, a move she saw as a “risk”, but resulted in her charting highly on several local commercial charts. The track sees Rouge and AKA reflecting on the types of relationships that last despite the ups and downs, with fans speculating that AKA’s verse was about his ex. Thanks to “One by One”, Rouge entered a new decade by showing her fans and critics that there were more dimensions to her as an artist beyond rap.
W.A.G. (feat. Sarkodie & Youssoupha) 2021
Enlisting the help of Ghanian rapper Sarkodie and French-Congolese rapper Youssoupha, “W.A.G.”, short for “WhatsApp group”, sees Rouge let her competition know that they’re not on the same level as her or in the same WhatsApp group, with the chorus reinforcing this with the lines "We ain't in the same WhatsApp group/ We don't even have the same interests/ We don't even like the same things/ we don't pin the same pic on Pinterest". Once again bringing in her long-time producer Mae N. Maejor for the instrumental, the track is low-slung and punctuated by a moody organ melody over punchy trap percussion. Both features come in with heavy-hitting verses that match Rouge’s energy. Thanks to this multinational collaboration, “W.A.G.” made waves not only locally, but internationally as well, exposing Rouge to brand new audiences.
