Sibongile Ndiweni, Sunday Life Reporter
IDENTIFYING talent and nurturing it to growth requires a continued dose of passion and hard work, which many artistes tend to lose along the way, but for Bret Rammz, a South Africa-based hip-hop artiste, he has a different story to tell as he has continued to raise Zimbabwean music in another land.
The Bulawayo-bred artiste is not only a hip-hop singer but he is also a songwriter, music producer, DJ and record label owner at Tear Dream Music who is following in the footsteps of the late hip-hop icon, Cal Vin who was an inspiration and of great support to up-and-coming artistes.
In an interview with Sunday Life, Bret said the late hip-hop icon Cal Vin played a pivotal role in shaping his career in the music industry.
“Cal Vin made people believe in him and his music. He also ensured that we believed in ourselves as artistes who look up to him. Now ever since he has been gone the hip-hop industry in Bulawayo has not been the same, and my aim is to keep raising the Bulawayo flag high, not only locally but internationally as well, because I know wherever he is, he is proud of the person I have become,” said Bret.
He is working on an album titled Hip hop is kwaito, an album that brings out a reflection that talent does not need a visa, one can be successful through effort and hard work. Its release will be on 16 September.
“Kwaito has made music popular all over the world and we still have many budding artistes who still venture into it to keep it going. I grew up in an environment where musicians like Brenda Fassie, Mandoza, Brown Dash, Mzekezeke, Mdue Masilela and Sandra Ndebele were making waves.
The late Cal_Vin
They made people love music because they were singing in their mother language which is a great way to win lots of souls because a lot of people can relate to it,” he said.
Born Bret Ngwenya, he started showing an interest in music at a very young age when he started deejaying at the age of nine in 2005 after getting inspiration from his uncles who then became his mentors.
In August 2013, he released his first single titled Umsindo which featured Trokho from Tick Tack Muzick and was produced by Vt from Out Standing Music.
Three years after releasing his first single, he decided to open his own record label which he named Tear Dream Music as a way to help other budding artistes from his community to break through.
Being in the music industry for the past 10 years, Bret has featured a number of popular musicians in some of his singles such as Imali yeGrant, Bhuti Maningi ning’, Umjolo and Izinja.
He has also shared the stage with popular artistes such as Big Nuz, K.O, DJ Tira, Cassper Nyovest, Emtee, AReece, Kwesta, Stilo Magolide, Dj SpeedSta, Touchline, Makwa, JustBheki, DJ Dimplez and Nasty C.
In 2017 he got his first international collaboration for his single Get the Cheese featuring Rach Wilson from Detroit in the United States of America.
2016 was a game changer for the hip-hop artiste as he won his first award for the best video for his song Bhekala Phansi at the Matabeleland North Awards, and his first professional interview on the popular music channel MTV Base Africa.