Every music lover must have been a fan of the music duo Ridimz following their evolution and trajectory in making music as both recording artists and music producers before their split up. For the fact that there exist just very music bands or duos that existed back then and still exist now in the Cameroon music industry, their coming together as two separate entities was obviously daring.
Down to memory lane these duo were formally known as Rythmz under EMPIRE Company spearheaded by Pit Bacardi until they breached their 4 year contract in 2019 which saw the death of “Rythmz” and the birth of “Ridimz”. You know how some of these contracts work, you don’t only lose the label and royalties but your brand name and identity. It was also the same period their record label name changed from No Hitz No Recordz Entertainment to Shaba Muzik.
It should be noted that PhillBill is a music producer and K Master K is a sound engineer in mixing and mastering coupled up with they fact they could sing the duo’s energy was unmatched. Together they created a power house, their label saw the light in 2012 and has been able to amass smashing hit records credited to their name. Songs that blew across the nation from that time till date!
As a duo they have been on so many musically related projects from the POWER SERIES to other mega songs, you could bet no one could see this band crashing someday! However there were some aspects which were under looked and will normally appear as a series of red flags if one had to pay attention.
The focus of this article is centered around that, but a retrospect is vital to understanding more about the duo, lets right in to why most duos fail and case study on Ridimz.
• Creative Differences – this probably was the most noticeable in this band’s existence, there’s always that one person who appears more talented and outgoing. Naturally they have this charisma and people person , their aura will easily fetch them admiration from the public which gives this leader impression even if they’re not! PhillBill in the case appeared more outgoing and a better singer to KnMaster K who was always almost missing in their moves probably was the reserved type or an introvert more or less. Minus the fact they’re working as a duo, each person’s version of musical fulfillment is different, their creative axis differ and their artistic directions are not the same. Without some sort of compromise, the visions these two musicians are working towards aren’t compatible. It’s very easy for a music producer to get a shoutout or credit acknowledgement for the success of a song than a sound mixer and master. More of this could create superficial tension or envy.
• Uneven distribution of gains made from gigs.
This equally accounts for so many band failures, before the split of this duo there were petty rumors around that. One person supposedly had the lion-share of ROI and was the immediate cause to the rift. Money made has to be a group thing with accountability however this was probably lacking, and with this there’s bound to be misunderstanding because disloyalty , lack of trust and self interest sets in.
If we looking at these two reasons they’re predominantly the most recurring reasons as to why bands will fail or crash irrespective of the petty issues like jealousy, personal confrontations , internal conflicts, disrespect. Many bands around the world have failed and keep failing it’s nothing new, make the most while you can, most of time it’s the pretense to keep going for the sake of their fans and audience that keep them going and fans need to understand before throwing tantrums and blame games.
Now based on the aftermath of the split you can easily know who had the upper hand in decision making, PhillBill gets to take over the duo official Facebook page, their YouTube handle and every other joint project identity for promotional purposes , you might ask was he pouring in and investing more money than his partner? Was the management, financing and sourcing of funds based on an individual effort? The silent nature from K Master K admist all the the debates that stirred up following their split might confirm to the speculations of him being the reserved type or the management void of collective running.
It should be noted the Management head of Shaba Music Inc is said to be PhillBill’s spouse if you’re connecting dots it could answer the questions you might have been asking or clear doubts about supposed complete ownership and control by one person after the split.
If we are to summarize why two or more creatives will hardly get along then the main reason will always water down to a difference in musical philosophies and conflict of interests, the other things could be fixed but once this noticeable barrier pops up compatibility is highly questioned.
The recent moves of separation shows a reunion of the band might never happen, both gone separate ways and one has already made so many artistic moves. You can know who was the star easily and that’s normally how it is, not everyone is born to lead others are born to make leaders and accompany leaders worst case scenario that’s how the duo appeared to be. However we are keen on their individual moves , everyone seemingly doing well in their creative spaces. The goal is always to move on , one person has to keep the vision alive regardless.