A sure way to maintain relevance in the Rwandan music industry is to be consistent with hit songs and this is what Yago is doing in order to get himself a significant spot.
Real name Innocent Nyarwaya, Yago is a Rwandan singer, TV/Radio presenter and YouTuber who specialises in afro-pop, afro-fusion, trap-soul, and dancehall. The 28 year old was born in Uganda and grew up with a strong music passion from a young age.
In an interview with The New Times, Yago shared that singing was his childhood dream even though it wasn’t easy in the beginning due to lack of financial support.
"My childhood dream was always to become a musician, at an early age I used to repeat other bigger artists songs and, as I kept growing, that dream never stopped,” Yago says.
He added: "When I finished my high school, I wanted to start making music but as you know making music requires a lot of investment and at that time as a senior six graduate that was impossible for me.
"I opted to join journalism which I was also passionate about but I never forgot my dreams of making music, that’s why last year everyone was surprised when I released my first single ‘Suwejo’.”
Yago attended primary school at Gishuro Primary School in Nyagatare. In the ordinary level, he studied at Rutonde Secondary School in Rwamagana, Eastern Province and he completed his high school at Saint Aloys Rwamagana, where he even served as the school deejay.
The artiste says that he is working hard to take his music to the next level, with the goal of becoming one of the country’s and top artistes in a matter of years, and he feels he has what it takes to fulfil his goals.
"Like I said, it took me some years to have financial stability to be able to invest in my music, so now it’s time to start doing what I love doing most.
I can’t say that I have got a lot of money but I’m thankful to where I am today and I’m thankful to whoever supported and keeps supporting me in this journey.”
Yago also revealed that he is working on his first album which he has not yet given a name but he hopes it will be a nice album to whoever loves his music and Rwandan Music in general.
He said: "I released my first song last year, so as I consider myself as an upcoming artist I want to release my songs this year."
"All the songs that I will release this year will be a part of my first album which will include only single songs and track number three dubbed ‘Si Swing’ will come out probably this week or next one.”
Talking about the reception he has received from Rwandan music fans after dropping his first song ‘Suwejo’, Yago said: "people welcomed me and loved my music that’s why I promise to give them more good music this year and beyond.”
The Suwejo hit maker also told the new times that he is ready to continue doing both journalism and music if things go well.
"I would like to do both and that’s what I want but we never know the future.”
Yago, who completed his high school in 2015 worked for Goodrich Tv and Tv10 before starting his YouTube channel (Yago TV Show), which is among the country’s top online TV shows.