While Knowless was away on national duty, representing the nation at the Rwanda Day celebrations in London, Fireman was nursing injuries sustained in a freak midnight road accident days to the show. The rapper was returning to Kigali from Musanze, in the Northern Province, where he had been promoting his new single, Itangishaka.The second Primus Guma Guma Superstar talent search road show in Nyamagabe had two conspicuous absentees; songstress Knowless Butera, and rapper Fireman. While Knowless was away on national duty, representing the nation at the Rwanda Day celebrations in London, Fireman was nursing injuries sustained in a freak midnight road accident days to the show.The rapper was returning to Kigali from Musanze, in the Northern Province, where he had been promoting his new single, Itangishaka. At the Nyagacenye junction, the Toyota Starlet in which he, a driver and two other occupants were riding came face to face with an oncoming heavy duty truck. To avoid a head on collision, the driver veered off the road, smashing the car into a roadside tree, smashing the car in the process. Fireman was the only one among the occupants to sustain injuries; he lost two lower front teeth, damaged two others, and sustained cuts on his tongue. That night, they drove back to Musanze, where the singer received first aid, before being transferred to a private clinic in Kigali the following morning. He was hospitalised and discharged a day after. But he had to recuperate for a few more days, meaning he could not make it for the second road show. At Nyamagabe, the absence of Fireman and Knowless was clearly felt in the air. Many only learnt from organisers that the singer had cheated death on the road. It is Fireman’s first appearance at Guma Guma, and the accident could only have affected his game so much. But not so much as to dampen his mood altogether. Incidentally, he is close friends with Knowless, with whom he missed the second road show. Their friendship dates back to their high school days. Musically, the two have a collabo, and a video for the song is to be shot soon.Fireman thinks that should he not win Guma Guma’s 20 million francs bounty, then it should go to Knowless. Or Riderman. "He (Riderman) performs well. People like his songs,” he says, adding; "he’s like me.”Otherwise, be believes himself to be among the serious contenders. Street boyFireman’s strength lies in his street credibility. He has tasted the life of the street as a young boy growing up an orphan, alternating between the homes of good Samaritans and orphanages. His lyrics and body language speak of a young man who has seen his fair share of personal struggle. His influences are definitely hip hop. Listening to his songs, one easily notices his musical influences; he loves rappers who do it for the street. In that regard, rappers Nas and Akon are his best. Self taughtFireman started music "just as a hobby”, in high school. "But with time, I started looking for more,” he says thoughtfully. "I was miming people’s songs at school, then I asked myself why can’t I write my own lyrics?”So he quit miming songs by Akon and Nas, his idols, and started penning lines of his own. His says that at the time, he was a singer, although now he is a rapper. "At that time, I called myself G2WID, but in 2007 I decided to become a rapper, so the name had to change to something that reflected my music.” He adds: "When I decided to start rapping, my philosophy also changed. Before, I was singing about girls and cars, but now it had to be a positive message.” About his changed way of thinking he says: "My philosophy is to give all children value because each of them has their own destiny. Children should be respected.” A tuff lifeFireman is one quarter of the rap quartet known as Tuff Gangs. The others are Jay Polly, Bull Dog, and Green P. He says that together, their philosophy is "to change the world and leave it a better place than we found it”. "But,” he is quick to add, "if you want to change the world, you have to change yourself first”, describing himself as a "changed man”. "I now have hope, but before, I had no hope, because nothing showed me I could ever have it. I can lose all my possessions but I can’t lose the people that know Fireman. I used to sleep on the streets, but now I can’t fail to find a place to spend a night.” Interestingly , Fireman’s first childhood hobby was football. In his O-Level, he was a goalkeeper for his school, Ruhango SS in Gitarama. He was also a part of the Karate team. "But my real dream was to be an actor like Donnie Yen”, he says, revealing his immense admiration for the Chinese Martial Artist. Sadly for him, there was no one to teach him what his idol was doing. "To be like him (Donnie Yen), you had to first learn karate, but there were no facilities for that,” he recalls bitterly.