MULTI TALENTED PEPPER

Moemedi Ramogapi Ramogapi is a multi-skilled Motswana bloke who wants to create op¬portunities for others to thrive.
The 29-year-old Multi-Media Design graduate from the University of Johan¬nesburg, South Africa, is the brains be¬hind a music recording studio dubbed Ruff Riddims based in Palapye.
The man with the octopus’ hands also has his fishing rod focused on prop¬erty and farming.
The former Yarona FM presenter who used to host the radio station’s in¬augural Reggae/Dancehall show dubbed ‘The Reggae Bashment Session’ is a firm subscriber to the ideal that, one should not have all his/her eggs in one basket.
Moses Maruping recently had a chat with him about the many things he does…

Please tell us about yourself?
My birth name is Moemedi Ramogapi Ramogapi. I hold a Mul¬ti Media Design Degree from the Univer¬sity of Johannesburg where I studied for 5 years. I’m currently living in Palapye where I have set up a recording studio which I hope will create opportunities and hits for new artistes in the central of Botswana.

What makes you tick?
I try my best not to get ticked off, but some things like people that can’t tell the truth tick me off. People who argue a lot also tick me off.
I want to be happy so I try all my best to stay happy at all times.

What gets you going everyday?
I want to make a difference in peoples’ lives as well as mine.
Many people want to be successful, wealthy, healthy and happy but, very few want to go through the process.
So the desire to make a difference in peoples lives, in my life and the country gets me going.
I’m motivated by knowing that peo¬ple have become successful by following their dreams even when times where hard and failure was near.

What do you do for a living?
I’m an aspiring entrepre¬neur, currently with fishing rods in entertainment, farming and property.
I currently run a studio called Ruff Riddims, based in Palapye, Middle Inn.
We make music and adverts for radio and TV.
We have just released two albums of our artists namely Skeat Basimanyana Mamela Meropa and Tebza Rocka. These albums are available in Choppies stores countrywide.
We also offer recording services to those wishing to do recording of albums, jingles and adverts.

What else do you do besides spending time in the studio churning out beats?
I’m also involved in a property de¬velopment business, so if I’m not in the studio, I’m busy working on building houses for rent.
I also spend some time at the farm where I’m currently harvesting some maize and if I’m not there, I’m busy work¬ing at Thato’s Nite Club in Palapye.

What are your talents?
The most high (God) has blessed me with a lot of different talents and I’m trying to explore them all, simply because they’re all related to art. I’m able to draw, design, paint and pro¬duce music.

Wow! That’s quite a handful. What’s your idea of an ideal night out?
I hardly go out, but if I were in a re¬lationship, it would have to be a relaxed place where we can chill and get to spend some quality time together.
However, with my friends, I prefer small gatherings in a place were can hear each other.

We’re terrible at knowing when to kiss a girl. What signs should we look out for?
Hhhhhm… Maybe Mr. Lover Man Shabba Ranks would know better.
I think maybe body language will guide you.
You can’t try and kiss a girl if she is standing in Francistown and you are in Ga¬borone. You have to be close so that you can observe if she keeps licking her lips. You will also notice if she is comfortable around you and if so, you could try. I really don’t know, maybe that’s why I’m single at the moment.

What’s your first production mem¬ory?
It was when Bruce Dope Se¬bitlo gave me some tutorials on Reason 2.5 (music production software) to help me get the basics of music and production.
It was a big help because it has helped me learn faster.
I was able to make a House tune similar to the tutorial.
That was when I first realized I was on the right track in as far as music and produc¬tion are concerned.


Is music production lucrative?
I believe that music as a business is lucrative. The problem is that here in Botswana it has always been labeled a time waster as many believe that you need to get a job to be successful. We’re currently invest¬ing our time and money into trying to dis¬cover how lucrative music production really is.
We’re busy negotiating with people that deal with African music for digital distribu¬tion in America to deal with our licensing and digital music distribution online.


If music production didn’t exist, what would you do for a living?
I would probably focus on multi¬media design and setting up different busi¬nesses.
I don’t believe in having all your eggs in one basket or just having one fishing rod. In life, one needs to have more than one in¬come so that if there is a crisis with one, you can still eat from the other income.
My aim is to build a net of businesses to sustain the life and the community.


How much is a good beat these days?
For us to make a full song, mixed and mastered, it will cost just a small P1500.00 which is very cheap looking at the quality you are bound to get for a song. But it gets cheaper with bundle packages, like al¬bums and stuff.


And the most expensive beat?
I have heard of beats that cost over R20 000 from guys in South Af¬rica, for doing a song. That’s the likes of DJ Cleo and Thaso. Right now I really don’t know how much they charge. As for me, I will just continue charging P1500 a beat, which in any way is dead cheap.

Are you into Rastafarism teachings and if so how has the religion influ¬enced your life?
A big no. I’m not a Rastafarian, but there are things that I like about the religion’s way of life especially the fact that they don’t take to war and are a bunch of relaxed people. I just live by many teachings, but I mainly keep positive vibrations about a lot of things.

Have you travelled the world much?
I have lived and studied in Zim¬babwe when the way of life there was the envy of many countries in Africa. That was around 1994 where I spent four years. After that, I then went to University of Johannesburg in South Africa for five years.
During my time there, I was invited to Germany for a design workshop and also in Cape Town to exhibit branding work at the Cape Town Design Indaba.

Tell us about your company, Ruff Riddims?
Ruff Riddims is a small com¬pany with huge plans based in Palapye.
We plan to discover talent in the cen¬tral district from different styles of music. The company is fairly new and has just finished construction of the recording studio in November 2008.
Glenn Stanton through the Design John L Sayers from Australia Forum de¬signed the studio for me.It took 3 months to construct the studio and the results are amazing as this was my first studio build via the Internet.
We also offer design services like de¬veloping a branding language for your company called a Visual language. We have done visual language (Branding) work for Yarona FM, DJ Fresh, Morupule Colliery and other companies.
We mainly offer recording services for jingles, adverts, music albums, as well as mixing and mastering.

Do you ever get stupid SMSes from ladies?
I don’t really give my number to ladies, but if they manage to get it somehow, they usually send me ‘call backs’.

What’s the best job you’ve ever had?
I have only had one job and it was at Yarona FM where I hosted a show called ‘The Reggae Bashment Ses¬sion’ every Sunday evening. It was too nice and I enjoyed it to the core.Right now I’m not crazy about a job simply because I want to create jobs and opportunities for others.I only have one life and I don’t want to spend it working for someone else’s dream.

And what makes you cry?
I can’t remember the time I cried, but it has to be something really sad. Take a death of family mem¬ber for instance or the demise of a serious relationship. Other than that I’m just one happy person who tries to keep a smile even when things are bad.

PERSONAL PROFILE:

FUL NAMES: Moemedi Ramogapi Ramogapi
D.O.B: 19-09-80
P.O.B: Gaborone
HOME VILLAGE: Serowe
HOBBIES: Reading Motivationl and Business Books
FAV MUSIC: Reggae, Dancehall, Motswako, Hip-Hop, and some local sounds.
CURRENTLY READING: Richard Brandson- Business Stripped Bare and Donald Trump- Think Big and Kick A**
CAR DRIVING: Nissan 2.4i Pick UP
DREAM CAR: Rolls Royce Phantom Coupe and Range Rover
MOTTO: Great success always comes at the risk of enormous failure. Winston Churchill
The Harder I work the Luckier I get – Gary Player- Donald Trump
ROLE MODELS: My parents, Richard Branson, Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki
HOLIDAY DESTINATION: Kingston, Jamaica