RIMON: HER POETIC JOURNEY TO LA AND WHY NOW IS THE TIME FOR HER DEBUT ALBUM [@RI.MON]

Photography Credit: Yavez Anthonio

Ethiopian-Eritrean-born, Amsterdam-raised singer, RIMON is an individual who has found calm in the chaos and thrived in her ever-changing environment, redefining the meaning of home. Living across various continents and countless cities, she lives to the fullest, following her dream anywhere it takes her. Her latest releases ‘I Choose U’ featuring RINI and ‘Build Me A House’ featuring Tiggs Da Author show different sides to her artistry, fusing R&B, Neo-Soul and Pop to transport us to her many worlds.

Bethel: You’ve been touring with Giveon for a while now. What have you taken from this experience that has helped you shape your upcoming debut album?

RIMON: I feel like seeing him live and seeing his production, and the way they approach life is so professional. It made me really think sonically. Every song I’m making for the album, I’m thinking “would this work, live? Is this going to create an experience that I want to create.” It’s not necessarily like that’s my main goal, but it’s definitely a thing of knowing how it would sound and what type of sick transitions I could make? 

Bethel: After three EPs, why is now the best time for your debut album?

RIMON: I feel like the EP’s were like a nice way of showing, “Okay, this is the type of music I make, this is who I am,” but there was a pandemic in between, there was a lot of things happening, I was still very young. Now, I feel like after a run of the past four or five years of doing things on my own terms, I’m ready for an AP. I’m now ready mentally, physically, emotionally, to really start the trajectory. As a person, I’ve grown a lot. On the business side, we all grew a lot, we understand the industry, we understand our place more now. Because of all that new knowledge, it’s this feeling of “Okay, we’re ready.” I wouldn’t think any other time earlier would be good. We wouldn’t have gained the knowledge, and the resources that we have now.

Bethel: So it sounds like you have a pretty young team with you in terms of experience, and they’re all growing with you. 

RIMON: Yeah – everyone was already in some sort of creative field, but I feel like everyone is doing this for the first time, for real. So in the past five years we all grew. I had to learn what being an artist means, aside from just enjoying music, stepping out and being like this public figure, this figure in some people’s heads. On the business side of things, we had to learn a lot. It’s just so deep. There’s so many layers and I think we all learned in the past five years. We’re independent so we had to figure it all out ourselves, and now we’re in a space where we’re next level ready, centred, the vision is there. 

Bethel: There is a change of theme between ‘I Choose You’ and ‘Build Me A House’. What kind of themes can we expect you to explore on your album?

RIMON: Ohhhh I feel like a lot of themes. The album is more of a personal experience in terms of like, I’m in my mid 20s. I think ‘Build Me A House’ is a better reference, because in the album I really want to go slightly deeper. ‘I Choose You’ is a very nice song and I love it, but it’s a love song. For me, it’s important, especially with albums, not to preach but have a concept and go deeper so people know who Rimon is, aside from just a cute song. But it’s gonna be so different from ‘Build Me A House’, but that would make the most sense, in terms of depth. 

Bethel: You have plans to travel back to Ethiopia to shine a spotlight on the music scene. What are you hoping to achieve from that experience?

RIMON: Visiting there has opened my eyes, in terms of the creativity there. But also my mom fled Eritrea when I was very young, and I have the resources that I have here and it’s a different starting ground. Going back there and having conversations with a lot of locals, it made me realise that certain things are more difficult over there. There’s a big gap, in my experience, between the diaspora and the local community, in terms of arts, music, all of that. So for me, it’s very important to think, “Okay, how can we bridge that gap and provide resources, connections, network, and all of that to the local artists.” I have a whole idea of what that looks like. I’m still working on it, but it’s more of a place where it all comes together. 

Bethel: You clearly thrive in an ever-changing sometimes chaotic environment. You’ve grown up in different places, you’ve recently move from Amsterdam to London and I hear you’ll be moving to the states soon. What do you to take a break from such a busy life?

RIMON: I feel like I sing about that, but recently there has been a transition where I’m not. I’m actually seeing the beauty of calmness and stability, because I feel like the past five years I’ve just been on chaotic, survival mode. Especially the past eight months, I don’t have a stable house situation, so I’ve just been going where I need to be, and that has definitely took a toll on my perception of certain things and also my mental health. I’ve had so many like moments where I’m like, “Oh my God. I can’t do this anymore.” So now I actually do the opposite, because I’ve kind of pushed it to its limit. I just want to have a little apartment, have my stuff there, have my plants, have a routine, go to the gym every day, and live a basic life. But I want to be happy, knowing myself. It’s something that I crave right now, because I’m just not on the extreme of the spectrum of chaos, you know. 

Bethel: So, the move to America. Is that what it is going to be for you, a moment of peace.

RIMON: No, not at all. So that’s actually something that I’ve been reconsidering in my mind because am I really going to willingly put myself in an uncomfortable situation, again? That’s what I’ve been doing for literally my whole adult life, and it has brought me a lot of things and it has brought me so far, but there is also a point where you’re like, “Okay but what gives me happiness?'” and is it always, “Let me see what kind of uncomfortable situation I can create for myself now so I can learn and grow?” That’s the type of mentality that I have, but sometimes that also comes with a lot of sacrificing family time, and sacrificing simple things that make you happy. And now I’m reconsidering my trip because I’m going to be on the other side of the globe. Am I going to be happy there? I don’t know. We’ll see. I’m gonna do it, but I’m definitely not going to find my peace there.

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