Oloriegbe Emmanuel Oluwatoyin, popularly known as Ray Blaze, is a Belgium-based Nigerian Afrobeat music artiste who hails from Akoko-Edo in Edo State. In this interview, he narrates his sojourn in the music industry and how he survived police gunshot in Belgium a few years ago:
Many people are familiar with your music but they don’t know the face behind the songs, how do you feel about this?
Ray Blaze is an easygoing and music-minded person with positive energy targeted at using music, particularly afrobeat, to entertain music lovers. I also have a passion for promoting music by helping up-and-coming and already established artistes actually achieve their dreams and aspirations. My music should lead the front while the name can follow. I am happy that the music has moved across different continents; that’s the dream and I am living it.
How did your music journey begin?
My interest in music started at a very young age when I would watch my uncle who is a musician perform and rehearse with his band. Then I learnt how to play the drums and piano with my cousin hydrobeat. Shortly after secondary school, I relocated to Belgium where I had the opportunity to learn how to work with recording softwares and DAW and started composing and recording my own music.
So you embraced music totally since then?
After my studies, I had the chance to start working with known producers and started writing songs for famous artistes in Belgium. After writing songs for other artistes for some years and gaining experience about the whole music industry, I started my own solo career.
Why the choice of afrobeat and how popular is this genre in that side of the world?
Afrobeat is not just a choice but it is a lifestyle. As an African who spent some of his life growing up with grandparents, uncles and aunties, I had the chance to be exposed to different kind of music but afrobeat found a way to remain in my heart even way back in 2012 when my friends were all doing hip hop and R&b, I stuck with afrobeat because it was something that was embedded in me and my love and connection with it has always been second to none. Afrobeat is fast becoming a culture that is being embraced in every part of the world.
You own a record label called Stack Town Records. How’s it faring and how many artistes do you have on the record label?
Stack Town Records is a label set up for music production, promotion and developing artistes. It is still at the beginning stage. We had an artiste signed to it three years ago but for some reason, we had to stop the deal. But we are working towards signing new artistes.
A few years ago, you were shot by the police in Belgium. Can you share the details of what transpired?
I was in a car alongside my then girlfriend who was driving to catch up with an appointment with a doctor. We had a minor argument about her driving skills which I wasn’t comfortable with, so I decided to step out in our neighbourhood. Stepping out of the car, I noticed a white boy staring at my then girlfriend so I confronted him, I got back into the car after my girlfriend urged me to come in and let us continue our journey. We left that area and kept going. We got to a traffic light and had to stop until it turned green for us to continue. That was when we heard a gunshot through the car windshield and the bullet went straight through my chest. My girlfriend was in a state of shock and panic and screamed saying:”Why did you shoot? What did he do? At first, I thought it was just a teaser because I couldn’t believe the police would just shoot like that, not even in the worst scenario. But then looking at my chest and saw blood, the first thing I could think of was “oh no!” I am dead. Apparently it was just an accidental discharge. But all thanks to God I survived it after undergoing a surgery but I still live with fragments of the bullet in me.
Why are you in Nigeria at the moment?
I am in Nigeria for some familiarisation tour and for music productions as well as some events in Benin City, Edo State, and other parts of the country. It is also a time for me to share my music with a lot of fans in the country. I have waited for this moment to come and I am excited that I am working on some of the projects right now. I will be sharing more details with my fans in the coming weeks.
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