VJ Nano is one of the biggest names in the turntable business in Rwanda. With years of experience in Radio and TV, Nano has managed to upgrade his profile from just a deejay to a Video Jockey (VJ). He was the first Video Jockey in Rwanda to have a video mix TV show called the HouseParty. When he is not playing music at K-Club or Master’s lounge, he is working at his day job at KFM Radio. He talked to Nasra Bishumba about things that most people don’t know about him.

1. What is the first thing that you must check out upon meeting a girl for the first time?

Curves any day.

2- The one thing that you consider a deal breaker no matter how attracted you are to a woman.

Personality. What kind of person is she in private and public; I believe the rest can always be worked on.      

3- Why VJ not DJ?  

VJ stands for Video Jockey, meaning at any given point I can mix both audios and videos at the same time, I prefer VJ as it’s rarely used.

4- If you were stuck on an island, which three people would you want to be with and why?

Arsene Wenger; to know why he sometimes makes the decisions he makes and who is really behind the decisions that are made by the club, especially when it comes to transfer activities of players during the end of the season and why he decided to stick to one player (Flamini) who kept letting the team down over and over again, Abu Bakr al-Baghdad; to know why ISIS exists, why they commit such atrocities and what solution should be put forward to put an end to all this madness once and for all; Eddie Griffin; to keep us going with his jokes until the rescue team reaches.      

5-Tell us about your most memorable night?

They are so many, but one in particular stood out for me. The fundraiser for my friend Edmund Kagire to go for cancer treatment in India. It was just great to see people come together for a great cause and the success of his treatment is the bonus of it all.

6- What is one track that got popular that you can’t stand?

Not one, but all songs by a rapper who goes by the name of ‘Young Thug’.

7- If you had the power to erase one musical genre -- which one would it be? 

Genres have good and some really bad songs, I cannot strike out a whole genre of music, but rather some songs that fall under particular genres.

8- What would you do if you could be invisible for one whole day?

Arsenal would have to be playing FC Barcelona on that day. What I would do to Messi, Neymar and Suarez cannot be said here. (Laughs)  9- If you could be a woman for one day, what would you do within those 24 hours?

To be honest, I can’t even imagine being a woman as most women go through a lot; I cannot do what some women can do in 24 hours.

10- What are you afraid of the most?

Lightning.

11- What’s your favorite comedy?

I prefer stand up comedies in general because they speak the absolute truth about life and things that happen around us.

12- What is the most annoying thing a person has ever done on a night you were VJ-ing?

I wish I could list like ten but the worst was when I was playing at a private party and some lady came over to request for a song only to drop my laptop in the process. The party had to end there and luckily the machine didn’t get seriously damaged.

13- What childhood memory is stuck with you forever?

Traveling upcountry to our village during the December holidays. Those road trips were memorable and we got to learn a lot along the way, see features that we only read about in books or saw on TV.      14- If you hit the jackpot, what is the first thing you would do with it?

Depending on the amount but it if it’s significant, I would immediately purchase land.

15- If you were allowed only one meal at the end of your life, what would it be and why?

No doubt about it, chicken.

16- If you could read minds, whose would you want to read and why? 

Aliko Dangote, I would like to find out his real secret to success and how he maintains it.

17- When was the last time you cried?

Seven months ago.

18- If you were not doing what you do today, what other profession would you have loved to venture into? 

I always wanted to work for the military, (Air Force to be particular). It’s unfortunate what wars have done to the world we live in now but I would have preferred to be part of peacekeeping missions instead of wars.

19- Does growing old scare you? Why?

No, it doesn’t. In fact, I pity the generation after me and the ones to come; the world has just become something else that I don’t know how I would have survived. Growing up we never knew Facebook, Twitter, PlayStation, Internet and many more. We would go out and practically live life, play, socialise in real time and stay healthy.

The other day, I was working at a birthday party for a young kid and some of the kids invited had phones and were on their phones literally almost the whole event. I am happy to grow old.

20- What’s the best thing about your life right now?

The best thing is that I am alive and breathing. Nothing beats that for me. 21- What’s the hardest thing that you have ever done?

Playing appropriate music at a traditional wedding introduction ceremony.