"AGATAKO” is a Kinyarwanda word literally meaning a special souvenir and decoration given to lovers as a symbol to remind them of keeping their love eternally.

"You can dedicate it to your love,” reads the disclaimer to the video clip of the song on YouTube. 

The video that was uploaded on YouTube recently has since become a sensation, attracting views and comments from across the continent and beyond. 

From Kenya, Flo Makokha wrote on YouTube: "What’s the meaning of ‘agataako’? Kenyans we don’t get it but we can’t stop nodding our heads”. 

To this, Fridah Meru, also from Kenya replied: "Flo that’s true...I can’t stop nodding my head every time I listen to the song yet I don’t understand.”

Another fan simply wrote: ‘Agatako’ is a Kinyarwanda word which means souvenir. It has nothing to do with obscenity that Ugandans especially the Baganda can attach to it. LOL!”

As the hit of the moment here in Rwanda at least, the song has generated lots of public interest and then some mild debate. 

There is the general feel-good thing about a Rwandan son-of-the-soil (DJ Pius – real names Rickie Pius Rukabuza) featuring renowned Ugandan artiste of Jose Chameleone’s caliber on a song that actually works. 

Going by the number of comments on Youtube, it is obvious that the song got a massive reception in Kenya, where most music lovers are very familiar with Chameleone, who released his first hit, Mama mia under the Ogopa DJs label in Nairobi. 

In Uganda, especially for people that speak the Bantu dialect (specifically luganda), it’s all about the sexual innuendo wrapped in the title. Ugandan fans of the song seem to find that title a little provocative, if not out rightly risqué. 

"Agatako” in luganda would loosely translate to "big booty”. 

"Of course music is meant to be interpreted with different opinions, so I guess you cannot expect an intoxicated mind to translate the same message of a song like a sober mind,” DJ Pius weighs in. "Take the example of Ugandan singer Ziggy Dee’s song Eno Mic or a recent hit in Rwanda called Indoro, many people tend to twist the words for their own enjoyment.”

"Agatako is anything that can act as a souvenir of love, in this case, something that keeps the memories of your lover or love life.”

Pius co-wrote the song with Chameleone. "But because most of the song parts were in Kinyarwanda, I had to first explain to him what everything meant,” he clarifies. 

In April this year, Pius travelled to Kampala, Uganda and together with Chameleone headed to audio producer Paddy Mukasa aka Paddyman of Audio One studios where the song was recorded.

A doctor/DJ combination

Pius has been in the music industry for over a decade but mostly as a DJ, straddling the borders of Uganda and Rwanda. 

Throughout this time, he worked with several musicians both in Uganda and Rwanda, making friends with many of them in the process.

So definitely this was not the first time he was meeting, let alone working with Chameleone. 

The two met again in Kampala in April this year. Pius was organizing an event, the Rwanda Burundi Night in Kampala with other Rwandan artistes. His mission was to convince Chameleone to headline the show, which he did. 

"Then we talked about doing a song together. He told me his requirements and suggestions and I made it happen hence Agatako,” Pius explained.

What does he think of Chameleone as a musician and as a person, and what was it like working with him? 

"As a musician, he is very talented. He can absolutely do anything, any style any time,” he starts, adding:

"He is a pure music genius. As a person, he is very strict and wants everything to be as he wants. If it doesn’t work out then u might fight a little. But all in all, it comes from the passion. He is so passionate about his family, his music and his showbiz. Working with him was a big lesson, from his social network to his energy; I learnt that nothing comes easy. Those guys work a lot. Their energy level is above the sky!”

He has some interesting insights into the state of the Ugandan music industry, which literally nurtured him, vis a vis Rwanda’s:

The Ugandan market is really advanced, starting from the Money generation, the production, the social network and the Private sector as well. Rwanda needs to attend to all those above mentioned aspects. We are still lagging behind. But of course we shouldn’t forget that we have a population and language constraint.”

The song’s video clip was shot here in Rwanda by producer Meddy Saleh of Press It Production Company. 

"He is a very talented producer. He has made a couple of videos which have featured on the international scene including TRACE TV, MTV etc,” Pius remarks. "The budget was between $ 8,000-9,000.”

He describes Agatako as "incomparable” to all the other musical collaborations to his name so far:

"I’ve had calls from Nigeria, Tanzania and Kenya for collaborations all because of Agatako. It has been playing for four weeks on Trace Urban TV now. I mean it is really big. It is topping charts on Classic FM and Citizen Radio (Kenya). Of course am not talking about Rwanda and Uganda because it is self explanatory.”

Dawn of a solo career

The last time I interviewed DJ Pius had been in mid 2013, and that time, he was still one half the group, Two4Real. 

At the time, he had just released the club banger, Imitobe and it was all over the charts and nightclubs. 

But Pius was a bitter man. His song had been "stolen” by other musicians, and not only had the culprits refused to credit him for the song, they also went ahead and released their version, called Kanda Amazi to the airwaves even before Pius could promote Imitobe.

That was 2013, and a lot has since transpired in Pius’ life –musically or otherwise. 

That same year, he graduated with a bachelors in Law from the Independent University of Kigali (ULK). 

Then he got married to Ange K. Umulisa, and the couple is now blessed with a baby boy. 

As Two4Real Pius and T.K continued doing songs together, like Agakayi (a book), Never let her go ft Roberto (Zambia) and Ray Signature from Uganda, plus a few other songs that together made up the album Nyumva which was released last year. 

"Sadly however that was the end of the road for Two 4real as a group because in February this year we parted ways and started solo careers. My first single as a solo artist is Agatako ft Jose Chameleone from Uganda,” Pius explains. 

"Two4Real is in the past now. I will always be DJ Pius from Two4Real but it is now a closed chapter of my career,” he adds emphatically. 

Born in a family of 13 siblings, Rubakuza started playing music when he was an entertainment prefect back in high school in Uganda. After completing A Level at Lycee de Kigali, an aunt opened up a bar in 2005 and took him up as a DJ, and he has never looked back since.