Music Spotlight: Ramzey (Pharoah) Siele
Ramzey Siele is a Kenyan-born American recording artist, rapper, songwriter, and actor. He was born in Nairobi, lived in Ohio and later moved back to Kenya to work on his debut album. Ramzey has had the opportunity to witness both worlds and see them from a different angle as compared to other Kenyan- Hip Hop artistes. His distinct sound uses Hip-Hop to convey conscious lyricism and expression. Ramzey mainly returned to Kenya with nothing in his mind but making music and has had the opportunity to work with established brands such as SRS, Kenya Music Week, SafeHouse Records, Churchill, Citizen TV, Hot 96, Homeboyz Radio, Phoenix Records, Kidum, Abbas Kubaff and UKOO-flani.
Ramzey is currently collaborating with artists and producers across the globe and working on a new upcoming album. He recently released his new music video for his single entitled “Nightlife” with its edgy up beat style mirroring the current Hip-Hop culture & smooth melodic vocals creating a buzz on radio, & the international scene. Ramzey has also released a new music video for his song, “Movie”, directed and produced by Kagwe Mungai. With over 3,500,000 hits online, his listeners are sure to enjoy what’s to come.
While in Atlanta, Georgia he worked on marketing and promotional events in the music industry with renowned brands such as Dr. Ben, Grand Hustle, Def Jam, Core Dj’s, Jim Jones, Roscoe Dash, Lil Scrappy, Diamond, Gorilla Zoe, and Ludacris but to name but a few.
Ramsey was recently nominated for an ATLANTA CLUB AWARD for having one of the best promotional companies in Atlanta; ‘MYLK ATL’ that was a business he started with a close friend in 2009, which is an acronym for “My Link to Atlanta”.
Ramzey eventually decided to focus on his own efforts as a musical artist. While in the South, he opened up for big American names like Keyshia Cole, Young Jeezy, Big Boi of Outkast, & Paul Wall. His album is in the works and he is sure to feature a number of groundbreaking songs.
As an all round indie and hip hop artist, the future never seemed brighter for Ramzey Siele.
One of the challenges Ramzey has faced are doing things the way he wants to, and not what people expect or are accustomed to. He is not afraid to go outside of his comfort zone and experiment with different sounds or emotions that most rappers usually shy away from.
In terms of his lyricism he always strives to make sure his content has substance and isn’t just the superficial norm especially coming from a city like Atlanta where people pride themselves in those styles of individuality and originality. Another challenge he tells us was making this transition to come back to Kenya and establish himself as a musical artiste as such a move wasn’t pre-meditated goal. “Most people assume that my move here was a career choice, or financial decision which wasn’t the case at all. I was actually just visiting Nairobi for 3 months when I decided to relocate here and settle down completely just because of the love I have for home and now things will never been the same.” He expressed his love for Nairobi sentimentally.
Ramzey also just finished shooting the music video for a new single called “Lazima Watii” featuring artistes WAKUU who are composed of a group of two kids ages 14 and16 respectively who are some of the most talented Kenyan rappers he has ever heard, not just because of their tongue-twisting lyrical ability but also because of their they’re creativity and confidence. The “Lazima Watii” music video also features the dance crew Sisko reloaded who are some of the craziest breakdancers we have ever seen do it and he is really excited about the energy of the video and the impact it will have when it drops in a few weeks!
Have a feel of his music here:
Find out the latest information on him:
Reverbnation - Ramzey Siele Reverb
Facebook - Ramzey Siele
YouTube - Ramzey Siele Channel or on Twitter @ramzeysiele
By Michael Nzambu
