Since the return of physical concerts in 2021, partygoers in Kigali have treated to back to back mega concerts mostly headlined by Nigerian singers, a move which is not sitting well with revelers and local artistes who are complaining about West Africa’s music dominance in Rwanda.
Just like in the neighboring countries, once you step out of the vehicle, Nigerian tunes are booming through the speakers of street vendors, and likewise on the radio and pubs, the most played tunes are rarely from Rwanda.
Also read: Are Rwandan artistes short of quality music?
The global rise of Afrobeats has been a source of pride for the continent, but in Rwanda it is also raising concerns that local musicians are being squeezed out.
"Why book Nigerians when Rwanda has capable artistes?” different artistes have raised concerns in the past.
One of the local musicians who are advocating for change in event organizations in Rwanda is fast rising artiste Kenny Sol who in the past caused tension on different social platforms after he was stopped from performing at a concert that he was announced as a performer.
The 'Umurego' hit maker told The New Times that increased headlining acts of Nigerian artistes in Rwanda is something to revise in order for Rwandan music to grow.
"I’m not saying that they should ban Nigerian musicians from performing in Rwanda, but there is a huge difference especially when it comes to performing fees which might cause unnecessary setbacks of capable local musicians. Event organisers should think outside of the box and start valuing Rwandan musicians the same way they do to Nigerian artistes”
Another thing, Kenny Sol said, is if organisers reduce Nigerian names on flyers of local concerts and add Rwandan names, more opportunities and exposure will increase for local artistes and will take Rwanda’s music industry to greater heights.
"We should just understand, for all the stakeholders, that when it comes to music, Rwandan artistes should be the first priority.”
Another well-known local artiste who decided to speak on grounds of anonymity told this publication that Rwandan music lovers seem to be tired of foreign artistes as it was seen at Joeboy’s concert that was held last weekend in Kigali.
He said that as soon as local artistes including Bruce Melodie and Christopher finished performing at Joeboys concert, some revelers left the arena and the main headliner of the event performed for a small number of people.
This, he said, should be one of many other things to open the eyes of event organisers for them to focus on what revelers are demanding on the market.
"There have been some breakout stars like Juno, Ish Kevin and Ariel Ways. But success stories have been few and many have struggled to make money from their talent over such issues. It is time to start having events headlined by home-grown artistes”
Bruce Intore, founder of Intore Entertainment, one of the leading Event planning companies in Rwanda responded to the saga saying that Rwandan artistes should be given a platform, but not necessarily stopping international musicians to perform in Rwanda.
"The first event I organised after the pandemic was Trappish of only the young generation in Rwanda’s music industry and it was a success. Our own artistes are good, and I also think we should empower them with as many opportunities as possible,” Intore told The New Times.
Also, Intore said, local artistes can also come up with a better solution to this problem by working with event management companies to organize their own concerts.
"Local artistes can also work with us to organise their concerts without stopping international musicians to stage here. The blame game isn’t a better solution,” Intore added.
For so many years now, Nigeria has maintained its position as the country with a very vibrant music industry, consequently beating other countries to their own game, thereby becoming the number one Music center in Africa only followed by South Africa.
At least eight from ten artistes who performed live in Kigali since 2020 were from Nigeria.