He only dreamed of becoming an artiste like his father when he was younger, but after being fascinated the first time he entered a studio, he fell in love with music production and was certain it was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. His high school choir had gone to record a song with Kina Music and Bob Pro’s studio where he met producers Clement, Bob Pro and Kaffi Junior, a pianist and music producer he regards very talented.
Real name Eric Aimé Nsengumuremyi, after meeting such big names in music production, he visited studios frequently and the more he did, the more he was inspired to pursue the field which led to his ultimate employment in one. When Bob Pro opened a new studio in 2015, he brought Flyest Music with him and taught him how to record and edit vocals. He also learnt mixing and mastering from YouTube.
Even though he never went to a music production school after high school like he wished, it did not stop him from chasing his dream. He however went for Information Technology in college because he couldn’t find a school that taught music production in Rwanda.
"I dropped out of university in 2019 when I was in my last year, as an IT student. I was going to be either a programmer or a music producer and music production got the best of me. It got to a point where I could no longer do both at the same time so I had to pick one. If I finished school I would have given up on music production and if I picked music production then I had to drop out. However I knew that I only took IT because we don't have a Music program in our universities which is what I wanted.”
"I was good at IT but even then music had its grip on me, so I had to choose what I was going to do for the rest of my life between the two. My brain said Programming because that's where the real money is and but my heart said Producing, because music is my life and it felt like I would have betrayed myself if I didn't listen to my heart, so I closed my eyes and took a leap of faith and went with music, the rest is history,” said Flyest Music.
The 30-year-old who does music production for a living revealed that his journey has been a rollercoaster. He has had great experiences and some bad ones, but they all worked together to mold him into a better Producer and helped him develop a better approach to music business.
Asked where he sees himself in the next five years, he said that he will have his own label and do music not only locally but internationally. "I know it's possible because one of the songs I produced called ‘On Fire’ by Andy Bumuntu became a hit internationally even though back then I wasn't as experienced, skilled or known as I am today. We pulled it off and it wasn't just luck, it was planned and it went beyond our expectations, so with God's Blessing in five years I will do much more than that and will reach new frontiers.
Flyest Music has now started composing and producing his own songs featuring different artistes. He recently released a song called 'Cope' featuring Ella Rings, adding to the five other songs he previously collaborated on with Christiane Boukuru.
Other hit songs that were produced by Flyest Music include ‘Lale’ by Zizu Al Pacino ft. Social Mula, ‘Inshuti Magara’ - King James ft. Israel Mbonyi, Ariel Ways’ ‘Far From You’, ‘Valentine’ - Andy Bumuntu , ‘KK 509 st’ - Andy Bumuntu , ‘Tadja’ - Andy Bumuntu, ‘Hold My Hand’ by Cassanova, ‘Have’ - Rita Ange Kagaju, ‘Avec Elle’ - Kevin Skaa, ‘Déjà Vu’ - Andy Bumuntu and ‘Byabihe’ by Gaju among many others.
There are also other songs that haven't been released yet from different local artistes produced by him including Okkama, Yago, Jules Sentore, Muyango, Andy Bumuntu, Angel Mutoni and Rluta, among others.
Music inspiration
At home he was always surrounded by music mostly because of his father who was a physiotherapist and a musician who played piano and the guitar a lot at home. Unfortunately his father died during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and that is when he moved to live with his father’s older brother who was passionate about music too.
"My uncle had a collection of CDs of legendary musicians like Beethoven and Mozart. He also had African Legends like Miriam Makeba, Yvonne Chaka Chaka and many others. He introduced me to various genres of music while my brothers introduced me to RnB stars Boyz ii Men, Kayci and Jojo and Congolese music also. Growing up in that environment I fell in love with music and became my therapy until today.
I found my own preferences in music growing up, like my favorites Corneille, Craig David, Whitney Houston, TLC and others, thanks to television. I am into old school music and that is where I find my inspiration and therapy,” he said.