RAH & The Ruffcats – Orile to Berlin

As one of the most sought after and technically sublime working bands in the German live music scene, Berlin based Ruffcats are something of an institution. This eight-piece outfit made up of some of the country’s most revered session musicians, pool all of their diverse influences and come together as Ruffcats to create a unique take on the music they love.

Since forming in 2007, and via their live jams at Bohannon Soul Club in Berlin, Ruffcats have found themselves acting as the backing band for artists such as Georgia Anne Muldrow, Sweet Charles, Lady Alma, Jaguar Wright, Miles Bonny & many more.

In and out of the studio, they have also worked continuously with German soul singer Flomega, and in 2013 the Ruffcats were the touring band for the first Voice of Germany winner Ivy Quainoo.

In the meantime, and for over a decade, Rapturous Apollo Helios, better known as RAH, has been making a name for himself as one of Berlins’ most outstanding rappers, songwriters and vocalists.

Originally hailing from Lagos, Nigeria, RAH’s music has always been influenced by his environment as well as a rich history of black music from hip hop to soul and, of course, Afrobeat. Since relocating to Berlin, RAH has made waves in the German capital with his weekly Swag Jam sessions. At these live events he has not only been able to show off his prowess as an exceptional MC and something of an improvisational genius, but also attract such luminaries as Erykah Badu and Bilal to join him on stage.

Having crowned his journey from Lagos to Berlin with the release of his debut album, How Far? in 2018, RAH began the next stage of his sonic adventure by hooking up with long-time friends, the Ruffcats band. Their first single together, the Curtis Mayfield influenced Shifting Sands, dropped the same year to huge acclaim, and it wasn’t long before both parties looked towards working on a larger project together. After a pause for the pandemic, their collaborative process really began to bear fruit, and following the release of the warmly received singles Agidi, MoonSun and Sorry, they now present their debut full length LP.

Entitled Orile To Berlin, the album marks RAH’s migration from the area he grew up in Lagos to the German capital he calls home today. It’s an LP steeped in Afrobeat and highlife but with funk sensibilities and a hip hop attitude. Produced by Jochen Ströh, producer for Ebo Taylor classics Love & Death and Appia Kwa Bridge, and mixing engineer for Pat Thomas and Kwashibu Area Band, it has a strong production pedigree. It represents the band’s own version of Afrobeat within the unwritten laws of this music, and without trying to make a Fela Kuti copycat record.

The album draws on original Afrobeat influences with tracks like Agidi and Rodeo reminiscent of the golden age of the genre, albeit with RAH’s distinctive rasping hip hop vocals and perhaps a more concise and to-the-point framework than the Afro-political anthems of 1970’s Lagos. Whatsmore, the latter in particular points to how these socio-political issues have changed very little over the past fifty years or so, as RAH himself explains:

“Rodeo is a song about the hurdles we face as people in a fast-paced, ever-changing and unbalanced world. It’s an analogy to a rodeo sport of trying to rope, steer and ride an aggravated bull.”

Similarly, Ide Osun (Mantra) is a song that talks of resistance against injustice, and acknowledges the effects of racism, socially and economically, as is experienced from an African’s perspective. As the lyrics illustrate, Anywhere u look, black people still suffer it the most, although rather than being a plea for help or relief, it empowers and revolutionises with lines like I believe in my ability, I survived with
tenacity. I apply this energy Just to magnify my identity.

Much of the subject matter is more personal, though, from a simple proclamation of love on MoonSun and the regret fuelled Sorry to the life affirming call to action that is Wake Up, featuring Berlin based garage rock icon King Khan.

Elsewhere, album opener, Yeah Yeah Yeah, is a song that looks deep into human nature and examines the lengths a person will go to in order to survive and thrive Like Cain and Abel, Jesus and Judas, like Brutus to Caesar, Samson and Delilah, and the intense and relentless Kaya, translating from the Hausa language as ‘baggage’, concerns itself with what weighs us down in our lives, as RAH himself explains:

“This song hits at the fact that everyone has baggage they carry throughout their lives. Past experiences, traumas acquired or inherited. The verse talks of the struggles and baggage my mother carried and how that is inherently passed down to her children.This shapes our personalities and who we go on to become.”

The album concludes with a mellow Afro-soul beauty in the shape of Inside Out, featuring up-and-coming German vocalist Melane Nkounkolo. It’s a mesmerising piece of music that once again illustrates the broad church of sounds that The Ruffcats work within.

RAH and The Ruffcats burgeoning relationship continues to move forward, with more recordings and live shows planned, including a German club tour kicking off in November this year.