Several deejays and artistes from Ghana and Nigeria convened at the Kigali Conference and Exhibition Village (KCEV) on Saturday, September 3, where they met with local deejays to pull up some music mixes and dances.
The event kicked off later than was announced, with Nigerian deejay DJ Ice entertaining the audience. MC Nario as the event official MC also played a big part in keeping the audience entertained alongside MC TEX.
After DJ Ice mixes, DJ Neptune took to the stage and led the audience in paying tribute to the late Yvan Buravan as they sang his song, 'Big Time'.
As DJ Neptune was doing his thing, Ghana’s Camidoh, the headliner of the show then joined the stage at 00:02AM and performed ‘Sugarcane’ and revelers couldn’t help but sing along.
He was later joined by a very young girl who he performed with for a short time.
"I love you guys and thanks for being with me throughout the entire time. Thanks for welcoming the entertainment and the show vibes as a whole." DJ Neptune said, before leaving the stage.
Renowned local deejays and dancers DJ Higa and DJ Rusam, born Sharon Higa and Nadege Rusamaza, soon made their way to the stage and grooved to the artiste’s songs, before retrieving backstage.
In an interview with The New Times he expressed his gratitude to all Rwandans who showed up and shared that he is planning some music projects with a Rwandan artiste.
"First of all, I want to get the contacts of the parents of the young girl who joined me on the stage and see if I can gift her something. Regarding the music project, of course when musicians meet, they sing and that is a fact. I am talking to some artistes like Marina and others that DJ Pius is linking me to, and when we come up with some projects, I will come back and we will definitely alert you all."
"The show was so amazing, it really was dope. I would encourage more of such events because what it does is build a bridge for culture, more collabos, and knowing people's tastes as well. I am so excited to be part of this first event since as DJs, we are the life of the party and we need more events like this to encourage DJs to do well, artists from different countries to meet as it will evolve in bringing together the united Africa that we all want to see," DJ Neptune also told The NewTimes.
On stage, DJ Marnaud also blessed the audience with some Rwandan music and performed his 'Bahabe' ft Bushali. He also surprised the revelers when he did a solo performance as he played 'Amapiano' beat with drums.
After the event he told this publication that it really means a lot to be one of the local deejays to headline this inauguration.
"I have never done this kind of playing drums but am glad that my people enjoyed it. Being part of the debut of 'Naija Meets Rwanda' means a lot to me. I didn't know that I could ever share the stage with DJ Neptune and the others, but see now, we are growing big," said DJ Marnaud.
The organisers shared that it was an amazing experience and that it all went as planned and even beyond.
"At first, we were struggling to explain about the concept of this event, but now we have a clear image of what it is all about based on how it was. We were worried that people could not come, but seeing them turn up and enjoy the show was a huge success." Patrick Rukundo, one of the organisers said.
He added that this will be a yearly event organised by Shooters Lounge, where they will be allowing Nigerians and Rwandans music icons to meet and share some experience. The show will not only be limited to Nigeria, but will reach other countries as well. The show ended at 00:30.