Rwanda’s music industry continues to flourish with more youngsters joining the stage to take the industry to a higher level. IGIHE.com’s Dianah Mutimura spoke to some upcoming local artists about their dream, the music industry, and challenges it faces. Below are the excerpts.
Joliss Peace
He is a 20-year old singer currently in senior six at Don Bosco, a high school in Eastern Province. His stage name is Joliss Peace but his fans call him ‘Peace’. Joliss wants to be famous and he is determined to take the local music industry to the next level. As a student, he says his main challenge is to combine studying and singing but he loves both.
His love for music dates back in his childhood. He says when he was young ; he used to attend concerts with his mother, something that increased his interests for music.
In primary six, Joliss started writing songs and he named his first song ‘Mpamagara’ meaning ‘call me. The song was released last year and became a hit. Tigo, a mobile company is now using it a caller tune. Joliss believes that the local media industry has a role to promote
the music industry. This could be done by playing local songs on the
radio stations.
Life
Life is a new group, which emerged early this year. It is composed of two young male singers Serge Gatsinzi and Audace Willy Mucyo. Serge is known for his song ‘Mbwire iki umukunzi, and Amapingo y’Urukundo. Local radio stations play these songs often.
Before forming the group, Gatsinzi and Mucyo were friends and created the group ‘life’ after realizing that they shared passion for music.
They have so far recorded their first single ‘Ndibaza’ and they are currently working on their second song expected to be released next month.
Unlike Mucyo, Gatsinzi plays guitar. He says he has played guitar for the past 12 years. “I’m so in love with the guitar”.
On the other hand, Mucyo is a songwriter and a dancer. He says he is currently on a level where he can teach dancing. He sings in hip-hop style. The group has worked with Producer Nicolas, the owner of Bridge Record, based in Kigali and is currently working with Lick Lick, the leading producer in Rwanda who owns Unlimited Record.
Life believes that the local music industry should be valued like other sectors and this could help develop it.
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