Deko Barbara-Jessica Wedi (born September 13, 1992), professionally known as Rouge, is a

South African __NOTOC__ South African may relate to: * The nation of South Africa * South African Airways * South African English * South African people * Languages of South Africa * Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the Afric ...

rapper, author, and television presenter. Her debut album ''The New Era Sessions'', accompanied by a short film, received a

South African Film and Television Award South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

for Best Micro Budget Film.

Early life

Deko Barbara-Jessica Wedi was born on September 13, 1992, in Pretoria, Gauteng. She is of DR Congolese descent as both her parents were born in

Congo Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa: * Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...

. She started songwriting at the age of 12, which resulted in her taking part in acting, public speaking and poetry. She started rapping at the age of 19, when her friend suggested she should rap to her own R&B songs she composed. She attended the University of Pretoria, where she completed her degree in Drama & Film.

Career

2014–2016: Beginnings

In December 2014, Rouge released her second single "Mi Corazon" featuring rapper BigStar Johnson, following her debut single, "Party". The following year, rapper

AKA Aka, AKA or a.k.a. may refer to: * "Also known as", used to introduce an alternative name Languages * Aka language (Sudan) * Aka language, in the Central African Republic * Hruso language, in India, also referred to as Aka * a prefix in the n ...

featured Rouge alongside other female rappers in the remix of his song "Baddest". As for 2016, Rouge then released the song "Mbongo Zaka" featuring Moozlie. The song gained her prominence as it was her first song to top charts on all major radio stations across South Africa. Rouge was listed as one of six best female rappers in Africa by hip hop websit
Creative-hiphop
in 2017, alongside fellow South African Nadia Nakai and Ghanaian rapper Eno Barony. In October 2016, Rouge was one of the mentors on the

Vuzu Vuzu was a South African youth-oriented television channel produced by M-Net for sister pay television platform DStv. History The channel launched on 1 August 2003 as "go", as a competitor to MTV. In March 2009, it was announced that the channe ...

reality game show ''The Coalition'', which involves interns undergoing challenges with the assistance of the mentors. She also participated on the MTV Base Cyphers in the "New Skool" (2017).

2017–present: ''The New Era Sessions''

''The New Era Sessions'' was released on September 8, 2017, which debuted no. 2 on the local

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

charts. On September 15, 2017, she premiered the short film for the album as a video anthology and drama. The short film aired on MTV Base starring Atandwa Kani, Fikile Kani,

Denise Zimba Denise Zimba (born 10 November 1988) is a South African actress, singer, dancer and presenter, most known for her role as Mary Gumede in the soap opera '' Generations: The Legacy''. She also joined Vuzu Vuzu was a South African youth-oriented ...

and herself. She released 5 singles from the album, including "Mbongo Zaka" and "Dololo". The visual album won several accolades, including a

for Best Micro Budget Film Award, and a

South African Music Award The South African Music Awards (often simply the SAMAs) are the Recording Industry of South Africa's music industry awards, established in 1995. The ceremony is held annually, usually in late April or May, with the judging process starting in N ...

for Best Music Video of the Year. In 2018, Rouge was the presenter for SABC 1 music show ''Remix SA''. She is also one of the deciders of candy company Halls SA's

hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...

competition ''HallsOMFCC''. On March 14, 2019, Rouge announced signing with Sony Music South Africa.

Awards and nominations

Discography

* ''The New Era Sessions'' (2017)

Tracklist

Single Release

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rouge 1992 births category:Living people Rappers from Pretoria, South Africa South African hip hop musicians South African women rappers