Here in Singapore for the first time, R&B singer RIMON was giving main character energy at the recent “Somewhere Out There Singapore” Music & Art Festival at Fort Canning Park, as she took to the stage to perform a medley of her original songs. Watching her own the stage in an all-red monochromatic ensemble with a red blouse and red stockings in the blazing humidity made it very apparent that this was someone who knows who she is and how she wants her music to translate to others. Listening to her with our eyes closed, we heard a familiar rhythmic cadence comparable to soul queens the likes of Sade, Snoh Aalegra, Cleo Sol, and Erykah Badu—but with a quiet confidence and magnetism that draws you in. "The other day, someone said my music could be labelled as cinematic R&B, and I really liked that. There's a cinematic experience within the music," RIMON explains.
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From her sound and music videos to the way she speaks with intention, each is laced with a certain tranquillity and honesty that comes from having gone through the journey she has experienced at 28 years old. Her background itself sounds like a cinematic journey: Born in Eritrea in northeast Africa, her family sought refuge and moved between Dutch refugee camps before settling in a small, predominantly Caucasian village 30 minutes away from Amsterdam. Growing up, music was an avenue she always wanted to explore, but didn't think was a possible as a full-time career. "Coming from Eritrea, I didn't even know what my future would hold. I kind of let that dream go," shares the pint-sized beauty.
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After dropping out of school, she visited her father’s home country of Ethiopia at 18. That trip led her to meet like-minded creatives, including managers and producers in the industry. “I was like, ‘Oh, actually, it is possible.’ That you can do it if you work hard for it, and the dream became real at 18.” Taking charge, RIMON released her first single, "Grace", a mid-tempo feel-good track championing the way one carries themselves with confidence in 2018. The same year, she released follow-up singles, “Nightime”, “Realize”, “Sugarcoated Love”, as well as her first EP, BBYGIRL FOCUS—each featuring a blend of R&B, dancehall, and neo-soul.
Seven years since that fateful trip, RIMON has gone on to record two more EPs, I Shine, U Shine and Digital Tears, collaborate with renowned artists such as French electronic duo Justice as well as American Alternative R&B artist Chase Shakur, opened for American R&B singer-songwriter Giveon for his for his “Give or Take North American Tour”, and performed at major festivals like Lollapalooza Berlin in 2019. Beyond that, she has been featured twice by COLORSXSTUDIOS, a platform highlighting artists from around the world including a then-rising Billie Eilish, Doechii, and H.E.R., as well as Forbes’ 30 Under 30 under Europe - Entertainment in 2023, Spotify as a RADAR artist in 2021, a YouTube Foundry artist in 2022, and campaigns with Mercedes-Benz and Nike.
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With her independent spirit rooted in empowerment, the singer's discography reflects her experience living in several worlds geographically, culturally, and emotionally. "I feel like a lot of my songs, my music, and who I am as a person are all about empowerment. Even with my sad songs, there's always a resolution at the end. I think that's very much me. It's like whatever happens in life, at the end, I always come out stronger with a lesson learnt. I never really dwell in it, and that's something I express in my music," she explains, about how her background has influenced her sound and personality.
She continues: "I'm open-minded because I've been around many different types of people, I have travelled so much, and I've seen so much. I'm able to express different layers of things, whereas if I stayed in the village I grew up in, my view of the world would have been closed, and there would be nothing to write about. I'm a writer that observes; I need to live and take stuff in. I can't write by being in the studio all day by myself."
When it came time to release her first studio album in 2024, Children of the Night, duality, rebellion, authenticity, and transformation breathe life through all 12 tracks—like "Make Money" featuring American singer Mereba, "City's Burning"and "Flowers"—which the songstress had performed an hour prior. Particularly, "Back N Forth", which RIMON mentions would be one of the songs that would describe her current stage of life, is about being at a crossroads between youth and adulthood when you're stuck in the middle of two big decisions. Even the visuals for the album champion these themes, from showcasing her Eritrean roots for the "Make Money" music video to the album cover, featuring the singer alongside her mini duplicates.
Part of the storytelling was about an internal shift of being true to herself. "I was going through a shift of not always being the nice girl that people perceived me to be because I was always so kind and selfless,” she reveals honestly, taking time to explain. “I had a transition where I was like, 'I'm not going to do this anymore,' because it wasn't helping me in any way. I became bolder and more honest in the way I expressed myself. You may or may not hurt someone, but it's better to be honest. It influenced me to make an album with songs that boldly expressed myself—to say what's on my mind without holding back."
And this is just the beginning. She's currently in preparation for her first-ever headline tour across Europe and North America in October. But in the meantime, for anyone whose interest has been piqued by the Dutch-Eritrean star, she has one song from her discography she would point out to them first. “‘Never Learn How To Cope’ is the rawest piece of music I've made in terms of my feelings, and it doesn't have a structure—it has more melodies than words,” she expresses. “It's about my childhood, how I felt as a kid, and I think people connected to that song. It would say it doesn't necessarily represent my sound, but more so my stories. That song has healed me, and I think it has healed others too."
*This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.