Her album making it to the 2021 Grammy’s nomination was quite an emotional milestone for US-based Rwandan musician Somi that she and her friends organised a Zoom call to celebrate the achievement virtually.

And now, the journey still continues. For the singer, the nomination is a motivator to put more effort in her music and achieve big in the future.

"Getting a nomination at the Grammy’s is quite emotional but I realised that what was different for me was reflecting on the journey till that moment. I was overwhelmed by the nomination but, as an artiste, you cannot focus on the awards but on the work,” Somi told The New Times in an exclusive interview last week.

At the time the awards-giving gala happened on March 15, Somi was in Dakar, Senegal, with her friends for a break where she followed the awards online.

The singer’s successful album, ‘Holy Room’, was recorded live at the Alte Apor (Germany) with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band, one of the most innovative German jazz ensembles of all time.

Somi's album - Holy Room - narrowly missed out on the Best Jazz Vocal Album, an award won by American Jazz singer Kurt Elling for the  ‘Secrets Are the Best Stories’ album

Despite missing out on the award, Somi still called the nomination a ‘win’ that was worth celebrating.

"On the day of the Grammy’s, I was with three very close friends in Dakar, two from New York and one from Paris. They celebrated with me and my family. We organised a Zoom call and everyone celebrated from wherever they were. It was still a win for me, something to celebrate,” she said.

The singer, who is on vacation in her home country, Rwanda, said she is fully focused on doing more for her audience than just awards like the Grammy’s.

Grateful for Grammy’s nomination

An award of the Grammy's caliber is something that every artiste would wish to have in her trophy cabinet, but for Somi, the nomination was enough for her to feel grateful for the milestone after her album made it into the Grammy’s top five albums in the 'Best Jazz Album’ category.

"I won’t say it was an award I was waiting for." Yeah, you hope for a win but I feel like I gained so much anyway. I was so grateful to be one of the five albums selected,” she said.

"Whether it’s from the social capital, the nomination itself, more visibility of your music itself, I was just able to have a lot to celebrate in such a challenging year when artistes are going through really difficult times and their livelihoods are compromised. I am grateful for the milestone,” she added.

For the singer, the nomination came somehow unplanned and uncalculated.

"The nomination is an encouragement to keep challenging myself and continue to grow because these are the moments I never planned at all. The work continues and I stay hopeful for another opportunity,” she said.

The only thing that this nomination will change about my music is my intention to remind myself to always lean on to freedom, whether in the studio or on stage.

Since the Grammy’s nomination, Somi’s album ‘Holy Room’ enjoyed a major boost in distribution and sales among the jazz community across the world.

She describes her career so far as challenging but deeply awarding.

"I love tracing back from where it all begins and be like 'how did I get here?'" because a couple of very small moments eventually build something much larger,” she said.

Hope for Rwandan musicians

Many Rwandan musicians are still miles away from getting even a nomination at the biggest international music awards of the Grammys’ caliber and Somi blames it on the lack of opportunities among artistes in Rwanda.

"We don’t have the same opportunities professionally for artistes and I always wonder if I would have had the courage had I been born and raised here and I don’t see such opportunities or mentors around to encourage me. I think there are so many African, Rwandan artistes, who are ready to share their arts,” she claimed.

The jazz singer is however optimistic that all is not gloomy and has confidence in the impact that Nyundo School of Arts and Music is making on the development of the Rwandan music industry.

Somi visited the school two years ago and was blown away by the talent that is at the school. She hailed the school’s Director Jacques Muligande ‘Mighty Popo’ who has been at the heart of the school since its inception in 2015.

But a number of questions quickly came to her mind, especially how the students are helped to settle into the music industry after their music studies.

"After Nyundo, what opportunities are here for them? How can they continue to grow? What are the intentional efforts being made to integrate the cultural economy, the arts or the music economy to make sure that those artists who have real gifts thrive? How do we encourage them? How do we allow them to grow and flourish and really thrive at home?” she wondered.

"When you encourage arts, when you encourage creativity, when you are encouraging new ways of thinking, inspiring people to choose talent and passionate voices in their own lives, I really hope to see more and more Rwandan and African artistes on the global cultural stages and I hope that the private sector, the government, everyone can really support these artists to find a way in those spaces,” she added.

New album coming soon         

After her current album ‘Holy Room’ successfully secured a Grammys nomination, Somi has been recording her new album during the pandemic, which she is set to release on a yet-to-be communicated date.

Although the singer did not share details about the album, she admits that it is ready and that it is just a matter of time before it is released.

"The only information I have is that I have a new album in the pipeline but I am going to share details about it in a couple of few weeks,” she said.