Publications
His fans know him as Andre Coleman from the American crime hit-series, Power.
But he's also a singer and a songwriter. Olurotimi Akinosho, known professionally as Rotimi, was planning to come to South Africa for the first time but had to put his plans hold as he got busy shooting a movie, House Party, set for release in January.
The American star is full of excitement when he chats about his new amapiano song, Make You Say, featuring Nektunez.
It's all the way different from what he normally sings, as he is a contemporary R&B artist with traditional afro beats and dance hall influence. He tells us he wanted to try something different when he hopped onto the dominating amapiano genre from Mzansi.
“I worked with Akon and Nektunez, an incredible producer, and we wanted to make a record that felt good and I love the amapiano vibe, so it was just the energy in the studio that felt so infectious. I wanted to put my style mixed with this vibe and to me it felt really good, and just see what comes out of it,” he tells Drum.
Read more | US YouTuber Mansa Mayne taken with love for SA, amapiano, KwaMaiMai and amanqina hopes to move here
“And Make You Say came out and Nektunes has success with the amapiano sound as well, so it was a no-brainer but it was just how can I add my flair to the sound like this? And Make You Say was born.”
He tells us that the song was recorded in Atlanta, at Akon’s house, and he will be dropping the music video - which was shot in Nigeria - soon.
“The choreography was so beautiful, we had a bunch of about 200 dancers on the video and we were inspired by just the South African energy, it was just so beautiful. I feel like my purpose is to bring this sound [amapiano] that is so dope to the United States and let people know and understand how beautiful the music is in the instrumentation because it hasn’t really caught on in America yet.
“So, I feel like my job is to be the bridge to just show that the world is bigger than what we know in there. That’s why I say we should stay as authentic as possible and I wish I was able to come to South Africa but I was held back in the States.”
Can he do some of the amapiano dance moves? “I am learning a little bit,” Rotini says with a laugh.
“But I got to stay true to myself, I am not much of a dancer but I surround myself with people who are really authentic to it and I never want to disrespect the dance and culture, so I keep it simple to what I know.”
Read more | ‘To be honoured while I am alive at 61 is a very beautiful thing’ – SA music icon Jonathan Butler
Before he had to cancel, he had a lot of plans for his Mzansi trip.
“I wanted to experience it but also just meet people, hangout with everyone as much as I can and also learning about the culture, the music culture. I have few artist friends that I know so I wanted to just link and be part of the energy for a couple of days and I hear that it is beautiful.
"I am also working on a film, so I had to come back and film. But I am working on coming to South Africa as we speak, and I hope to perform the new single.”
