Empire Child is the new musical project of Ruth Rothwell who has spent decades behind the scenes as a music industry exec’ and now steps into the spotlight in her own right.
Her debut single “Trace the Race” introduced the project with a deeply personal reflection on identity, ancestry, and belonging. Inspired by her heritage – her mother Indo-Jamaican, part of the Windrush generation, and her father from Cape Town, South Africa, who fled apartheid, the soulful jazz-tinged track explores migration, legacy, and the reminder that “your ancestors were immigrants once.”
Ruth was a senior A&R manager at MCA/Universal Records, a key figure in the UK dance music explosion of the 90s, starting out as a club promoter before becoming label manager at BCM Records, the most successful UK dance label of the era.
She helped launch Digital Underground in the UK, worked closely with Andrew Weatherall, and later went on to manage and develop artists including Dina Carroll, Carleen Anderson, and Juan Atkins.
At MCA Publishing, she signed and nurtured globally influential acts such as Zero 7, Basement Jaxx, and Air. Alongside artists, Ruth also nurtured key songwriters, most notably Rob Davis, during whose time with her he went on to co-write era-defining hits including Spiller’s “If This Ain’t Love” and Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head”. While looking after Eg White she put him forward for a co-write with newly signed Adele. This resulted in the song “Chasing Pavements”.
But song writing was her true calling and that pull eventually led to Empire Child, her long-form artist project, with the forthcoming record produced by Madrid-based jazz professor and producer Mariano Diaz.
Photo by Tomàs Moyà
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