THE MERE FACT that they are twins is an advantage for Gakondo duo Ange Ndayishimiye and Pamela Bamureke’s traditional music career.

The twins were rarely seen apart from their young age. They attended the same school, in the same class, from nursery to secondary school. Till today, you can hardly see either of them doing anything alone.

Unlike today however, the twins were identical from a very young age that was easy for them to cheat exams because teachers couldn’t tell them apart.

"When we were studying in the same class, I would help Pamela do some exams which were difficult for her and vice-versa. But, after they discovered our tricks, we got separated,” Ange said.

But now, they are inseparable in their music journey.

The journey

Ange and Pamela, their stage names, have been singing since nursery school, in a school cultural troupe and kept doing the same when they got promoted to primary school.  

They were at the time not sure they were good at singing until they discovered that they have a singing talent at the age of 12.

"We discovered that it was our talent when we were 12 years of age. The talent developed and we are now composing our own songs,” said Pamela.

Ange and Pamela enjoyed a steady rise when they reached secondary school at College de Gisenyi ‘Inyemeramihigo’, in Rubavu District.

One day the school organised a singing competition which they won unopposed. A one Augrey Rugamba had, meanwhile, been monitoring their talent since they arrived at the school.

He admired their voices and proposed that they perform with him at weddings at a fee and it was this offer that kick-started their professional music career.

Their first experience singing at a wedding amazed guests who booked them to perform at future weddings.

"We got many offers from that wedding, and that is how we evolved,” said Ange.

Working with Kayirebwa

From their tender age, Ange and Pamela have been fans of music legend Kamaliza.  They attribute their fame to the late musician whose songs topped their list while performing at weddings alongside those of Cecile Kayirebwa.

"It is sometimes sad to sing and enjoy one's songs when you know you never meet her. I am sure that if she had been alive we would have learned a lot more from her. We love her so much, and we don't want her songs to be forgotten. When you sing Kamaliza's songs, she remains alive and people keep thinking about her. She means a lot to us,” said Ange.

Growing a career in the hands of Kayirebwa

One of the songs that Ange and Pamela performed at cultural events was Cecile Kayirebwa’s song was 'Marebe Atemba Amaribori'.

It was because of the same song that the duo were able to meet the music icon when she was conducting auditions for backup singers prior to her concert back in 2016.

Mentored by their school matron, they did a series of rehearsals about the song and attended the auditions.

 "We went on stage and began singing.  Before we could complete the song, she was already emotional. She hugged us, amidst tears saying that we were the perfect fit,” Ange recalls.

Ange and Pamela have since been backing Kayirebwa at each of the concerts that she has performed at.

The duo made a lot of money performing Kamaliza and Kayirebwa’s songs at different cultural events until Kayirebwa encouraged them to start producing their songs last year.

"We performed other people's songs and earned money, but never thought of composing our own songs. It was Kayirebwa who, before the pandemic broke out, told us that we should go to the studio and record our own song,” Ange said.

The motivation to do even more songs came after Kayirebwa admired the talent they had shown when they recorded their debut song 'Rusengo'

"When she listened to it, she loved it and asked us why we had taken that long. We also noticed public's positive feedback was, which motivated us to compose other songs,” said Pamela.

Since last year, the twins have so far released three more songs including ‘Impundu Zanjye’, a collaboration with Kayirebwa, ‘Gwera’ and their latest song ‘Ndamurika’, which they released last month.

The future

After years of performing Kamaliza and Kayirebwa’s songs at different cultural events, Ange and Pamela are now focused on pulling out of the music icon’s shadows and producing more songs, although they intend to keep performing Kamariza’s songs at cultural events to keep her music alive.

"We still sing songs by Cecile and Kamariza because we love them and their songs. We envision a brighter and better future beyond our imagination. Pamela and I can never be discouraged by anything,” says Ange.

Apart from singing, Ange was a model before she shifted to fashion design. She now owns a fashion house called ‘Hodan Fashion’ whose collections were showcased in the video of their latest song, ‘Ndamurika’