Queen Rima, the queen of African dancehall

Queen Rima is a Guinean artist with a passion for urban music and the rhythms of her country. She was born and raised in Conakry, where she began dancing at an early age, performing in Guinean venues before making a name for herself on the international scene.

Winner of the RFI Découverte Award 2025, Queen Rima is the second Guinean female artist to win this award and the third singer from her country after songwriter Sia Tolno in 2011 and Soul Bang’s in 2016, the king of soul and R&B. Queen Rima’s career path is that of an ambitious and determined artist who has had to fight to make her voice and her style, dancehall, heard in a music industry that is still very male-dominated.

At the beginning of the year, you received the RFI 2025 Découvertes award. How did you feel about this recognition?

As a huge honour and a source of great pride. After two finals in 2022 and 2023 without winning the prize, winning it in 2025 is a victory for me, but also for all young people in Guinea. It proves that perseverance pays off and that every failure is a lesson that paves the way for success. Those moments of failure were frustrating but formative. I learned to work on my voice, my stage presence and my image. I realised that talent alone is not enough: you need discipline, a team and a strategy.

I invested in my career as if it were a real business, which is why I set up my own label, Ouria Music.

I took singing lessons, stage coaching, and artistic direction. I stopped improvising to structure my art, and it paid off.

You are known as the ‘Queen of Dancehall’ in Guinea. What does that mean for you as a female artist?

Being called that is a title that honours me, but it’s also a responsibility. It means that I have to inspire young girls who dream of getting into dancehall music and show them that you can be successful while remaining authentic and professional. You’re already seeing women emerge in this genre of music and elsewhere who are doing very well in West Africa, particularly in Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia and Sierra Leone.

Why did you choose dancehall?

This musical genre suits my personality: energetic, free and direct. It’s a genre that allows me to mix African influences with Caribbean sounds and convey a message about women while getting the audience dancing.

Your album Temperature, released in 2022, gives a measure of your artistic ambition…

Température was a pivotal project: I laid the foundations for my musical identity with socially conscious lyrics and powerful rhythms. This album shows that I don’t want to be a flash in the pan, but to build a solid, international career!

Your song Guinée won-nömanè celebrates women. Why sing for them?

Because Guinean women are courageous, determined and too often invisible. This song is a tribute to their strength, their sacrifices and their role in the country’s development.

Lantchou mi yobaï and Life, what is the context and theme?

Lantchou mi yobaï ‘Break everything and I’ll pay’ is an expression in Pular, a language spoken in Guinea and in much of sub-Saharan Africa. ‘Lantchou mi yobaï’ is said to boast and reaffirm one’s purchasing power to others. Some people, when flirting in nightclubs, proudly say ‘Lantchou mi yobaï’ to the woman they desire in order to get what they want because they have the power to obtain or buy anything! This, without knowing that Vanity of vanities, all is vanity here below!

In this song, I reveal the dishonourable attitude of men who think they can use money, material possessions and food to have women at their beck and call. For its part, Life is a song about life: life is never static, you must always believe in tomorrow.

Your latest production is the song Chocolat. What does it tell us?

Chocolat is a celebration of our African identities, our natural beauty and our pride. I use this word to charm my man and, through him, all men. You know, in my repertoire, I often ‘clash’ with men, so this time I decided to magnify my man’s love. All my fans are my ‘Chocolats’ (laughs).

What themes inspire you and how do you write your lyrics?

I am inspired by everyday life, the social status of women, personal experiences and the stories I see around me. I always write from a place of genuine emotion and I choose the sounds with my team based on the energy I want to convey.

You have toured extensively in the sub-region and in Europe. How did they go?

The tours were intense and wonderful. I met very different audiences, but they were always warm and welcoming. It gave me confidence and confirmed that my music speaks across borders.

What are your prospects and plans?

I’m working on a new album with international collaborations, more ambitious music videos and another European tour. My goal is to promote Guinean and African music. But first, I’m releasing a single, Badman, on 19 September 2025. This track is intended as a form of female resistance to male attempts at commercial seduction. I tactfully portray the vision of a progressive woman whose aspirations are focused on projects and progress, relegating to the background the material goods commonly used as tools of seduction.

What message do you want to send?

Believe in your dreams, work hard and don’t let anyone define your limits. If I, ‘Queen Rima’, could do it, then so can you!