He was the flag bearer of Rwanda’s hip hop genre and arguably the best rapper Rwanda has ever had in his generation.

It’s a credit that did not come by chance because Jay Polly fought for it since he launched his career in 2008-2009, based on what he achieved throughout his music career.

From being the backbone of the formidable and historic hip hop crew Tuff Gang, to winning the Primus Guma Guma Superstar, the rapper has left memories that will live for decades.

The music fraternity is now mourning the passing of the hip hop pioneer who breathed his last, at the age of 33, in the wee hours of Thursday, September 2, at Muhima Hospital in Nyarugenge District where he had been admitted on the same night.

The rapper was laid to rest on Sunday, September 5, at Rusororo Cemetery, in a ceremony that was attended by a host of his fans, journalists, artists and his family, including his ex-wife Shariffa Mbabazi with whom they sired son.

Born Joshua Tuyishime, Jay Polly was a hip hop singer and a prolific visual artist, who started painting at a tender age of five using illustration books.

 At the same age, he was also practicing singing in his neighborhood church.

Although he was an established rapper by the time of his death, Jay Polly was, in his early years, a big fan of reggaeton genre, inspired by the music of American singer Sean Paul.

He danced to Sean Paul’s songs in high school while studying at ETO Kicukiro (currently IPRC Kigali) until he found new passion in rap music and believed he could become a great rapper alongside his old friend Green P, with whom, and three others started their hip hop careers as a group dubbed G5.

Jay Polly’s talent spoke for itself from his early days in music, especially when he met producer Lick Lick who was at the time, in 2007, a student at Groupe Scolaire St Andre, Nyamirambo, the same school that hosted rapper Bull Dogg.

"Lick Lick was at the time looking for a rapper to support when started as a producer. He asked me if could recommend him anyone and I went for Jay Polly because I knew he had a talent in Hip Hop from the days we were studying together at ETO Kicukiro,” says Patrick Rukundo, a music promoter known as Patycope.

Jay Polly’s parents, however, like any other parent of the time, were not at par with the rapper’s decision to launch a career in music, especially the Hip Hop genre that so many parents thought portrayed hooliganism. They instead wanted him to instead study arts because he grew up with a talent for painting.

But it was too late. Hip Hop had already chosen Jay Polly before he chose it.

"I was among the family members that did not want Jay Polly to do hip Hop.  But when I saw him playing around with our father’s piano so often and after realising how closely he followed Hip Hop songs of American Rappers like Notorious BIG and Ice Cube, plus how he started to write his own lyrics, I knew that he was destined to be an artiste,” said Jean-Maurice Uwera, Jay Polly’s brother.

It didn’t take Lick Lick long to discover what a Hip Hop talent Jay Polly was. One studio session was enough for the rapper to win producer’s vote of confidence before he linked the ‘Deux fois Deux’ singer with Bull Dogg who also had big ambitions for the Hip Hop genre.

The duo linked up with Green P, Fireman and P Fla and formed the Tuff Gang crew whose hip hop music has been influential in ensuring that Hip Hop finds a place in Rwandan music.

The crew worked hard and made remarkable releases like ‘Kwicuma’, ‘Gereza’ and ‘Amaganya’ among others.

With Jay Polly, the crew grew and made big strides in Rwandan music.

Jay Polly did all he could do to win the hearts of Rwandans as proven by the time his music fans protested against the jury’s decision to award the inaugural Primus Guma Guma Superstar (PGGSS) prize to Tom Close back in 2011, claiming that the jury was unfair to reject the rapper for the prize.

The rapper never stopped working hard and competitively took part in the third edition of PGGSS but his lack of respect to the media cost him a chance to compete.

The rapper won the fourth edition Primus Guma Guma SuperStar award. / Courtesy

After making amends with the journalists that were involved in the feud, the rapper returned to the stages of the Bralirwa-backed event with confidence in 2014 and eventually won the prize.

His songs like ‘Mu Gihirahiro’, ‘Umupfumu Uzwi’, ‘Akanyarirajisho’ and ‘Ndacyariho’ were among the best at the time that helped him win the top prize.

His Tuff Gang compatriots were convinced that, with the rapper, they were going to take over Rwandan music for years. But little did they know that the achievement was going to mark the end of the crew.

Members like Bull Dog and Green P accused Jay Polly of going cold and turning his back on them after bagging the Rwf24 million winner’s prize at Guma Guma. It turned out that everyone was going to embark on a solo career. They tried to reunite on different occasions but it never worked out.

The rapper’s fame started to fade and was instead involved in different law cases that resulted in jail terms.

In 2018, Jay Polly was arrested for assaulting his wife and was sentenced to five months in jail. After being released in 2019, he signed a three-year deal with The Mane Record which never lasted due to violation of the contract.

The rapper was again arrested on Friday, April 23, with 11 other people, who had illegally gathered at his place to party, violating measures against Covid-19, which was the last time he was seen in public.

Despite his highs and lows, Jay Polly will forever be remembered for his contribution to Rwanda’s music, especially the promotion of Hip Hop in the country.