Sylve Nkezabera, better known as Silvizo in the music industry, is a ‘parody’ artiste— parody music, or musical parody, involves changing or copying existing musical ideas, and/or lyrics, or copying the particular style of a composer or performer, or even a general style of music.
The 21-year-old started his music career in 2014 doing his own songs like other artistes. But in 2016, he was introduced to parody music, and, he says, since his own songs were not as good as he wanted them to be, he decided to try it out as a way to test his ability.
Silvizo shares that Rwandans warmed up to this style, and fans requested him to do more, and so in 2019, he released a song dubbed ‘Ndahurira’ in parody style.
His first imitation was Ykee Benda’s ‘Muna Kampala’ but he changed it to ‘Kigali’ which grabbed people’s attention. So far, he has 104 parody songs with official videos.
Some of the songs include, ‘Waah’ by Diamond Platnumz featuring Koffi Olomide, ‘Jeje’ by Diamond, ‘Ntizagushuke’ by Clarisse Karasira, ‘Igare’ by Mico the Best, ‘Away’ by Ariel Wayz featuring Juno Kizigenza, and many more.
More to parody
Asked about the criteria when choosing a song Silvizo says, "It all depends on the original song, I listen to its beat and find a message that I can add to deliver something big. When they go well together, I make a parody.”
Naturally, this might not sit well with the original artiste, but Silvizo says he asks for permission as some of these artistes can be easily reached, especially local artistes. "I contact them before doing the parody. But with East African artistes, I do it without asking them.”
Silvizo says that so far, no artiste has ever raised concern or a complaint over him doing a parody, or refused to give him permission to make one. Instead, they appreciate his work and share it on their social media platforms. For instance, The Ben, Diamond, Ykee Benda, Eddy Kenzo, Rema, to mention a few, have posted the parodies whenever he does their songs.
Challenges and way forward
Silvizo says he was inspired by Eric Omondi and Dogo Charlie from Kenya who have been doing parody for so long.
However, as an artiste who not only does parody, he is making eight of his own which he says will be out in October.
He does face some challenges, however. As a solo artiste with no management team, recording songs is hard financially, and getting his work played on radio and TV is also an issue.
Silvizo, who says that his power lies in his fans, especially Rwandans who love his music, urges them to keep on supporting him and other up and coming talents, in parody or otherwise.
On the way forward, Silvizo says, "I am putting effort into developing parody in the Rwandan music industry so it can provide job opportunities for our country.”
Born and raised in Nyakabanda, Kigali, Silvizo got his talent from his grandfather, Bihangu, who used to play ‘Inanga’ with renowned artistes Rujindiri, Masabo Nyangezi and others.