Four years after his two year stint being the keyboardist-organist-background singer to nine-time Grammy© winner Alicia Keys added to a third failed recording deal, Rogiérs finally stands at the segue of ..indie-artist with unyielding buzz.. and ..certified breakthrough.. in R&B/Soul/Hip-Hop. A point that he always imagined but simultaneously disbelieves.

I've pursued this for so long that there have been moments when I forgot why I was doing it, and even more-that I actually could do it, says the singer/songwriter/producer. For Rogiérs, observing the landscape of popular music during the last few years has brought both incredible hopes yet despair-not just as an artist but for the entire field. There was hope that the promise of his sexy-soul voice, expressive playing, deliberate lyrical viewpoints and yes, good looks-could be a revitalizing ingredient which the industry and so many listeners seemed to long for. But it also brought despair that maybe these values had been overstated. I haven't been excited about a new artist in years. I can think of three or four artists in the last five years that I've actually been excited about; two out of four either never came out or sold less than 250,000 records,says Rogiérs of the genre's monotonous trend. It's a trend that has sedated music lovers and yielded many acts to obscurity after months of costly marketing campaigns. It was these internal conflicts that conceived Rogiérs lead single Life & Music.. (produced by Dré Bowman and Rogiérs). Since its release in June 2006, the single has gained airplay stateside and in Europe- most notably in the UK's top R&B/Soul/Hip-Hop formats.

Born of an insightful conversation with close friend and EMI writer, Makeba Riddick (who penned hit singles for Beyoncé, Rhianna, J-Lo and B2K respectively), Life & Music explores the very real convictions of a do or die passion and an anxious desire to enjoy life's necessities and simple pleasures. Ironically the very convictions that created Life & Music soon became Rogiérs motivation to stay on track with his music and continue recording. I always tell people who listen to the song for the first time that I'm over making the decision [to choose] but it was a real question I had to ask myself, he says. Don't compare Rogiérs to R&B/Soul's reigning phenoms- there is room for successful diversity in the category, he says smiling. With his laundry list of worldwide performance credits both singing and playing, a distinguished formal musical education and personal endorsements spanning from award-winning artists like Alicia Keys, Chaka Khan, Wil-i-Am (Black Eyed Peas) to Bilal, Dwele, and Wajeed (Bling47) for starters, it's a good thing Rogiérs chose music.