Salomon Sankara Bisangwabagabo is a rising visual and music star, and has proven that he is a force to reckon with in Rwanda’s entertainment industry. 

After finishing his education, Bisangwabagabo spent time working behind the scenes as a budding singer, but later he got bit by the art bug and tried his hand at painting.  

The second born in a family of four, came to the limelight after the release of his debut single, "Uzambona” in August, and his profile has been growing steadily since.

Bisangwabagabo said he composed the lyrics the song after a friend’s trip to visit a long-distance love went wrong. In the song, he expertly depicts a touching ‘good bye’ to a love story. 

Earlier this week, the 22-year-old spoke to The Entertainment Times’ Edwin Ashimwe, about his influence in the industry so far, the story behind his new career and his work behind the scenes.

Excerpts:

You’ve had various roles in the music industry for some time yet this is your first single. Can you tell me a little about your background and why you decided to start releasing your music independently?

I am a former student at Nyundo School of Art and Music, I graduated in graphic art and design two years ago, and today I am a student at the East African University pursuing industrial art.

My background is in songwriting, there are artistes (I will not mention) that I have been working closely with, but I am commonly known as a guitarist in the music industry. Everything fell into place with this release around the same time I became ready on a personal level to take some time for myself and say all of these things, which I’ve been sitting on for so long. Releasing my own work feels like a really natural step in the multi-faceted career I’m hoping to have.

Not only is Bisangwabagabo a talented guitarist, he also has an excellent voice. Courtesy photos.

Most of what I’ve been doing recently has either been being a guitarist in rare case a singer, though I also ventured into the visual art industry.

Uzambona is your first single, what’s the story behind it?

This song is a piece I dedicated to my friend’s love story, the two grew up together and they fell in love however at some point  they went separate ways though they kept in touch. Their relationship grew stronger, at this point my friend thought they shared the same feelings and when he decided to propose to the lady, she declined. I remember when he was narrating the story to me, he told me that the lady had said that "Uzambona”, and that’s how it came about.

What motivated you most to go further and release a song on your own?

In 2018, there was a national competition called, "Art Rwanda-Ubuhanzi”, a talent search project that sought to identify young artistic talent across a wide spectrum of art disciplines, it was during this competition that my two talents started to ring a bell. I realised this after I was selected among the top contestants who made it to the grand finale of the project’s year of inception.

Tell us more about your budding talent as a visual artiste. Which of the two industries do you prioritise?

To start with, art to me is like an escape. I find joy and happiness in drawings that I make. It could be anything that stands out for me. Or a piece that someone requests for, but whatsoever I can’t run away from it.

At home, my parents used to tell me that it’s not a good thing, because I was losing focus on my studies and I used to get punished for it, but as I persisted in my passion they started to understand and facilitated me.

Well….I normally contradicted with many people on this same question, because I feel like there are always on the same place and they complement each other I guess.

However, I feel like I have developed as a visual artist simply because I never sold the pictures but instead did it out of passion this in some way broaden my clientele.

As an upcoming artiste in the business, have you faced any challenges so far?

Actually at times you start to get a bit run down from your dreams because of poor network. If only artistes were helped to connect to different labels and other stakeholders then tables would witness a turn for the industry.

His departing words…

I think people should understand the value of talent. Because as a witness many will pull you down and despise what you are doing, in most cases parents but this is cut off when they see us develop and succeed.

Therefore I urge my fellow young artistes to never give up.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com