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News
“Reflection,”
Rome’s new album in store in August!
Monday, July 19, 2004 - CVMusicWorld.com
Rome
By: Osvaldo Dos Reis
CVMusicWorld.com Senior Editor
He is one of the few male singers with crossover capability, alternating
between R&B, Latin, and Capeverdean music. His style and appeal are
certainly the extension of his well-rounded artistic talent and “Reflection,”
his third CV album due in store on August 10th, is the evidence of his
rare versatility.
“This album is somewhat different in some ways. People know that
my music has a lot of energy,” Rome told Cvmusicworld.com.
“You can dance, sit back and listen to it. It's for all ages.”Before
the recording of “Reflection,” which he co-produced with Klaudio
Ramos, Rome distanced himself from the Capeverdean music scene to work
on other projects.
“For about a year or so I was living in Los Angeles where I recorded
a Maxi Single “Latina Morena,” which was never released in the
Capeverdean Market,” he said referring to this Latino crossover and
collaboration with Sean Barney Thomas, a Grammy Award winner and one of
the original Death Row Records producers, who worked with Tupac Shakur,
Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog, Little Romeo and many others.
“I wanted to prepare for this work and I am glad I did it. This is
my best work yet, for sure,” he added. “Reflection,” which
is an inspiring tale of Rome's real life experiences, is an amalgam of
Zouk love, up tempo club music, and some surprises, all designed to please
“both the young and the not so young,” he stated.
“Reflection,” which contains 10 tracks, features an A-list of
musical guests including newcomer Juceila, Izidora, Adilson de Pina, and
the guitar man, Johnny Fonseca.
According to Rome, the idea behind this new album is to diversify the
ongoing changes within Capeverdean music in general. “I really like
the direction our music is taking, without leaving the traditional stuff
behind and creating new stuff as well.”
Rome, who comes from a family of musicians and began playing the guitar
when he was 8 years old, first performed on stage as a teenager at Brown
University in Rhode Islands . He released his first solo album “Desejo”
(Desire) in 1997 and followed with “Coraçao Vaziu” in
2001 (Emptied Heart.) “Reflection” is suited to be his defining
moment.
Rome
and Gee Bee - A Behind-the-scenes Video Tale
Thursday, January 20, 2005 - CVMusicWorld.com
Rome
By: Nuria Chantre
CVMusicWorld.com Editor
Still fresh off the release of his new music video, Take a chance, Rome
is sitting right across from big time producer Gerald ‘Gee Bee’
Barclay and he doesn’t look the least bit nervous. “He can work
with anybody he wants but he chooses to work with me because he sees the
desire that we have,” Rome says of the man who is helping him put
a face to his music by producing his first video.
Since the release of his third effort, Reflection, in the summer of 2004,
Rome has been on a mission to take his musical career to new heights.
“You have to go out and reach to people like him, to be able to say
ok, now he’s arrived,” he reveals, highlighting the importance
of providing the audience with quality in terms of music and video productions.
“You can no longer rely on your friends to go to the park and make
a video and expect to gain respect outside of the community,” he
adds explaining the main reason he had never released a video before.
That exact determination was what led director Gee-Bee to work alongside
Rome, “if you want to take things to the next level, I’m all
for you,” Gee-Bee says mentioning the talent and drive he saw in
him.
Gee Bee, who has produced music videos for an A-list of artists such as
Method Man, Snoop Dog, Silkk The Shocker and Mystical, teamed up with
Capeverdean rising artist, Rome, to make the first video off his latest
album, a mix of R&B and up-tempo Capeverdean music.
“They all went on to become real big stars,” he says of the
artists he has previously worked with. Originally from Liberia, the director
who didn’t necessarily listen to Capeverdean music prior to meeting
Rome last year, says he’s familiar with it because it is African
music.
“The song that we did (Take a chance) can compete with a lot of these
other songs, the American made songs, you get his stuff, you’re getting
kriolo music and you’re getting work that can be found in a regular
pop album,” he tells cvmusicworld.com. “Therefore, he’s
a lot more versatile and with that versatility he can perform in front
of a crowd and not say one English word. He’s a lot more versatile
than most artists out there.”
Take a chance, which had been originally planned for filming in Florida,
was actually produced in Rome’s home state of Rhode Island after
a series of hurricanes invaded the southern state last fall. “We
didn’t have much but we ended up making the most of what we had,”
says the director who at this very moment is still savoring the success
of one of his latest productions, a music video with one of Ghana’s
most talked about artists, Daddy Lumba.
If the success of Gee-Bee’s earlier videos is of any indication,
music fans just might take a chance with Rome and help him achieve his
dreams of reaching the mainstream. “I just decided to go and make
it happen because I can see talent,” Gee-Bee concludes.
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