By Clemence Tashaya
EENHANA – A new face in the Namibian music industry is vowing to continue and pursue her dream with Accapella.
Queen Ree, as she is affectionately known in her home town of Rundu, recently released her second album Nothing is impossible. She entered the music business in 2011 when she released her eight track first album titled Tusetekenu, meaning Lets Press On, which was also nominated for the first ever Namibia Annual Music Awards (NAMAs) in that category. The album teaches her fellow Namibian Christians to keep on pressing on even though the mountain to climb could be high. She will continue to record Accapella music despite not winning any NAMAs awards in the past despite nomination. Queen Ree also says that her Accapella music could be classified as Social Gospel Music (SOGOM). Having been duped and dumped by a certain producer in 2009, she continued to fight on until she recorded her first album in 2011.
“I sing Accapella, which is close to social gospel music. If you listen to my music, you will discover that it is quite different from any other music. While some musicians just sing for fun, I sing for the day-to-day living and the praise of our Lord. Most, if not all my songs are of social teachings and experience,” said Queen Ree. Born Rebecca Armandu on February 28, 1983, the shy and soft spoken musician says her music is well received in the Kavango regions as the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), plays most of her tracks from the two albums especially on Sunday’s programmes.
Songs receiving reviews on the NBC’s Rukwangali Language Service are I am not afraid, Two are better than one, Vayalaza, Eharo while Kalanange from the second album is also mostly requested by her fans as well. Queen Ree says most of her challenges are in the marketing aspect of her music. “Namibians, mostly female musicians, should press on not to press off. Being in dire financial straits makes mostly female artists in Namibia to make it difficult for us to have our own instruments, whereas the life of any musician depends on instruments. Another challenge for us as upcoming musicians is that we are competing with giants and that makes it quite a mammoth task for us to be recognised,” she says
Her second album has a powerful and an inspiring song titled Vayalaza where she preaches the message about contentment. The other song, which was nominated for this years NAMAs, is titled I will wait but could not make it. “My not winning in the NAMAs is victory in itself because it means that my music is getting recognition year by year and I think I should be proud of myself,” she contents.
Queen Ree draws her inspiration from her late sister, Lydia. They used to sing in a church choir and used to imitate Brandy and Naomi in the song The boy is mine. She also promises fireworks to her fans and urges that other upcoming musicians soldier on to create their own names and legacies in the Namibian music industry. “I promise the best for my fans. To other upcoming musicians, I would like to say let us not grow weary in making our dreams come true and to those who are already in the industry, my plea is for you to support us,” Queen Ree pleads. Currently working as a teacher in Rundu while she is also furthering her studies with the University of Namibia (Unam), she is also busy working on a video for released by the end of the year.