RWANDAN MUSIC is best known for a number of genres with R&B, Hip Hip, Afrobeat, Pop and Gakondo being the most common in the local music industry.  

However, Electronic Dance Music (EDM), is a new genre that is slowly taking over in Rwanda given how its community continues to grow thanks to the efforts that some producers are putting in recording a number of songs of EDM genre.

A typical instance of a Rwandan song which is of EDM genre is ‘Grateful’, a collaboration of female singer Rita Ange Kagaju and producer Jumper Keellu.

The song is part of the singer’s latest debut album ‘Sweet Thunder’.

During the studio recording session, Jumper Keellu recorded Rita Ange’s verses and gave her song an EDM vibe during the production.

Electronic dance music, also known as dance music, club music, or simply dance, uses a broad range of percussive electronic music genres made largely for nightclubs, raves and festivals.

It is generally produced for playback by DJs who create seamless selections of tracks, also known as a mix, by smoothly transitioning from one recording to another.

Producer Keellu is one of eight Rwandan producers who are so far recording songs of EDM genre. Others include Kavadias Mahoro, also known as MahKavadias, Jean d’Amour Habimana [S3PH], Josue Ishema (Jösh), Valens Mugisha (Ano), Placide Iradukunda Munyaneza (IRAD Placide) and Levis Shema (L3vis).

The genre may be existing in Rwanda but its exposure remains narrow, a vice that the producers are fighting to beat by doing all they can to promote the genre and bring it within its audience’s reach.

The idea to bringing EDM genre in Rwanda crossed Producer L3vis’ mind when he was watching a number of producers, on YouTube, performing the genre at big international festivals.

L3vis, who has been recording songs of EDM genre for the past three years, shared the idea to his fellow producers so they can help push the genre to its breakthrough in Rwanda.

In February, the producers presented the initiative to Kyle Schofield, the Director of QA Venue Solutions which manages Kigali Arena.

As a big fan of EDM who has attended EDM-led festivals during his time in South Africa, Schofield promised to give them a live set to perform the EDM at different big events held at the Arena.

"He liked the idea but requested us to grow the community. He advised us to build a big platform for the genre as well as bring the EDM community together in order to grow the genre’s fan base in Rwanda,” L3vis told The New Times.

Levis said creating an EDM community platform is important because there is a big number of people out there who love the EDM genre but have no idea whether there is a community that supports the genre in Rwanda because they only know the EDM performances from international festivals that they watch via YouTube and other platforms.

"We want to bring that community together and let them know that we are doing EDM in Rwanda for them to enjoy. We want to bring it within their reach. The platform is now growing and people are joining the community as time goes by,” he said.

The exposure is still low due to the interruptions caused by the lockdown but producers are looking forward to showcasing it to the music audience once the pandemic relaxes.

There was a plan to perform EDM during the event organized at Kigali Arena, including the just-concluded FIBA Women’s Afrobasket Zone 5 qualifiers, to see how big its reception from public would be like but, unfortunately, the producers weren’t able to stage it after Kigali was put into lockdown.

"We are now focused on putting efforts in the promotion of the genre on our social media and other platforms to keep boosting its community in Rwanda and the festivals will follow,” L3vis said.

According to the producer, the future of EDM in Rwanda is promising given how people are joining its community while he believes it can add something big to the development of Rwanda’s music industry.

"I believe electronic music can add an incredible vibe to our fast-growing music,” he said.