The crowd chants and cheers as sophomore RoyDanny Brave takes the spotlight as he performs his song “Never Give Up” at the cultural festival on April 18. Brave, also known as Damien Mbokola to many, immersed himself with the crowd as they sang and danced along to the beat.
The crowd displayed their enthusiasm by swaying their phone flashlights in the air while Brave was rapping in English and Swahili to the back track of the well-known song “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar. Brave had the crowd singing along with him.
“Never give up! Never give up! Never give up!” Brave chanted.
Brave found a passion in making meaningful songs and new dances when he was young. Listening to multiple kinds of music on TV while singing along helped Brave realize his dream was to use music to express his culture and motivate others.
Brave’s passion for music initially began in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but with the lack of a studio and the harsh life conditions, it was difficult to produce music.
But that all changed when Brave moved to the U.S. with his family on April 3, 2023, where he and his family were given opportunities to reach their goals. Brave’s brother, Dieumeroci Bushambale, says the U.S. has granted his family many opportunities.
“In America, we had many opportunities to reach our goals and (have) motivation to be someone you want to be in the future. That’s why our family likes to be in America,” Bushambale said. “We are proud about that.”
With that, Brave was shown a plethora of opportunities, one of which was the opportunity to use many social media platforms.
Brave posts on social media apps such as Instagram, YouTube, Apple Music, TikTok and audiomack. He uses the different forms of social media to help expand his audience for his music.
“I post on Instagram and YouTube and live, like when I’m with my friends,” Brave said.
As he continued to post music on his socials, he ultimately found the courage to perform on stage.
With the help of EL teacher Melissa Stanley, Brave was able to display his talent in front of a crowd for the first time. He performed his original song “Sounds of Africa” at the central branch of the Indianapolis Public Library for a poetry contest back in 2023, where he became one of the winners of the competition.
Brave gained his inspiration for this song by observing the state of his home country. He noticed how some areas of Africa weren’t as peaceful as others. And with this observation, he wanted to make people aware of the imperfect parts of Africa.
“Africa is a country where there are some areas where there is no peace,” Brave said in Swahili. “There are so many beautiful countries, (and) I wanted to be like a message to people to let them know what life in Africa is like there.”
Stanley says she has seen Brave grow in many ways, including his English and confidence, all while carrying a cluster of different responsibilities that come along with growing up, such as getting a job.
Stanley also says that Brave’s choice of beat in his songs is relevant and reflects him very well.
“If you could take his song (Never Give Up) and put it into a time capsule, it would be 100% relevant to him today because of the beat he chose and where he’s at wistfully,” Stanley said. “This depicts him really well.”
After his first performance, Brave started performing at SHS during events to represent his culture.
In 2024, Brave performed at the cultural showcase where he danced to music to express his culture. The crowd was smaller than at his most recent performance, yet the vibe the crowd had for him never changed.
Bushambale says that during his brother’s performance last year, he was very proud of him.
“For him and for us, as a family, it was incredible, very magical, the way of the performance, the way he came onto the stage, the way he danced, the way the people have the vibe for him. It was incredible, so we are proud about that as a family,” Bushambale said.
Brave’s most recent performance was during the cultural showcase this year. Brave wanted to show his talents to his peers and bring them joy through his music.
He performed his song “Never Give Up” with the intention of inspiring others to keep following their dreams. Brave says that this performance had that effect.
“I saw everyone be happy and sing with me, so it was good,” Brave said.
Brave then performed his second performance, the closing act. Alongside him was his childhood friend Danile Magamb and a few other friends who danced along to an African song called “Njo Vile (feat. Demba Nyama Mkali)” by Joe Like.
Brave also had the opportunity to close the festival by singing his song “Never Give Up” for the crowd one more time, which gave everyone one last thrill of the night. Brave closed off his time on stage with a short but sweet message.
“Thank you guys. Thank you all. I love you all,” Brave said.
Even after the festival had ended, the impact of Brave’s song remained strong as students continued to talk about it.
According to Stanley, some preschool students came to SHS to see all the different cultures during the rehearsals.
Afterwards, some of these students went home singing the song and asking their parents to play the song again.
Many students in the hallways even began to recognize Brave after the performance.
“The whole audience loved it … ,” Stanley said. “Even now, I’ll see people see him in the hallways and say, ‘Never give up.’”
Not only did his performance bring people to their feet, the use of Swahili and English allowed the audience to see the blend of the two countries. This also alluded to the amount of students who come from different parts of the world, representing how they fuse the different cultures together.
As time passes by after the cultural festival, Brave shifts his focus on finding a job in Chicago to help pursue his music career. Brave has many hopes for the future, like making new music, as he plans to continue his journey in the music industry.
“I will continue to sing, and I hope one day, my dream will come true,” Brave said. “I hope one day all of my talents, all of my songs will give me a good life.”
