Since his return from Iwawa Rehabilitation and Vocational Centre about a year ago, rapper Francis Uwimana, known by stage name as Fireman, has struggled to place his footing in the music industry again.

Drugs almost ruined the rapper’s music career but he now has his heart set on becoming one of the top rappers in the country again after getting new management in Tacona Media & Entertainment.

The former Tuff Gang member last week signed a three-year deal doing music under the Nyamirambo-based music label that will be helping him in his music production, promotion and supporting him generate profit from his music.

"This is a new beginning of my music career and I only want to look forward to what the future holds for me. I hope to achieve a lot under my new management,” the rapper said in an interview.

Fireman regrets the time wasted indulging in drug use until he was taken to Iwawa Rehabilitation and Vocational Skills Development Centre for a year during which he got time to think about himself as a drug addict and rethink about the future of his music. He has been using his experience to campaign against drugs.

"I went through a lot because of drug use but I don’t want to let the past dictate my fate. My time at rehab was important for me to learn a lesson from the past. Drugs almost ruined my life and my music career as well and I had to be there because it helped me think about myself and my future,” he said.

He has so far released one song, "Ibanga ry’Ubuzima”, under the label’s management. The song is a collaboration that features rapper and former Tuff Gang member P Fla.

The rapper, who made a name himself thanks to songs like ‘Itanga Ishaka’, "Umuhungu wa Muzika”, "Nyamijosi” and "Ntarirarenga”, a collaboration with Safi Madiba and Jay C, revealed he has already recorded another song, at the label’s studio, which he is set to release before the end of this month.

"I have a lot of projects pending release, including singles and collaborations. I am sure it will cost me a lot of effort to go back to the top but I believe in myself that I can go even way further because I don’t see myself in life without music,” he said.

Fireman’s decision to let the label manage every business he does around music came after he realized that he could not do it all alone to push his music back to the top.

"I want to come back where I belong in music and I realized it could not materialise without management. However, that does not mean that I joined the label to depend on them for everything. It’s rather a win-win situation. I need them and they need me and I am sure we can achieve something big together,” he said.

Fireman is among the founders of the Tuff Gang crew, alongside Bull Dog, Jay Polly and Green P, with whom they shared a successful journey as a crew. However, each of the crew members has embarked on focused solo music following a series of fallouts since Jay Polly won the Primus Guma Guma Superstar in 2014. The former group members have also grappled with drugs and had run-ins with the law.

But, for Fireman, getting management for his music alone won’t stop him from linking up with his compatriots whenever they need him.