Ruwhel Emers (NL) // Levels

Biography

Born on the beautiful island of Bonaire and raised in the vibrant city of Rotterdam, Ruwhel Emers grew up facing poverty and the absence of a father. Losing his brother at a young age deeply impacted him, and much of his youth was shaped by life on the streets. Despite the challenges, those experiences taught him valuable lessons that later helped him become a cultural entrepreneur and founder of the platform Levels. It was also there that he discovered Hip-Hop — the music that would shape his future.

Between 2015 and 2019, Ruwhel was part of the Hip-Hop duo WatWatIs, performing over 100 shows and appearing at major festivals such as WOO HAH!, Rotterdam Summer Carnival, and Crazy Sexy Cool. In 2019, he created his first deeply personal hip-hop theatre show, Sins of a Child. Around that time, he also fell in love with the emotional storytelling of blues music, inspired by artists like Etta James and James Brown.

This led to the creation of Ruwhel’s Bigi Blues Band, blending honest, powerful stories with music people can truly dance to. In 2022, the band won the Grote Prijs van Rotterdam and has since built a strong live reputation, performing at festivals including Grasnapolsky, Zwarte Cross, and Popronde while working on their debut album Is This What Blues Is?

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