DJ Nano, formerly of Contact FM, reveals that they have come up with innovative programmes that are bound to change the face of entertainment in Kigali. 

In an exclusive interview with The New Times’ Joseph Oindo, the TV 10 co-host challenges the youth to take advantage of opportunities that are now being created. Below are the excerpts:

Q: How did you come to radio?

A: I have been in Rwanda since 2008. I started working with Contact FM and, together with MC Ken we became the first people to come up with a Friday night show that was exclusively known for its musical entertainment interspersed with general discussion of daily life of the people of Kigali.

This became a hit show, with people making phone in requests for songs. However, after enjoying this overwhelming success, it was time to move on, with MC Ken moving to TV 10, while I came to 88.3 FM where I’m the official DJ on Friday and Saturday night shows besides carrying out other duties.

We also host some programmes with MC Ken on TV 10.

Q: What have been your major achievements after parting ways with Contact FM and joining TV10?

A: Even though we parted ways with Contact FM, we never dropped our ambition to take entertainment to the next level. Again we are the first people in Rwanda to do live shows on TV, including live video mixing.

The first one is "Insync Live”. This is a weekly magazine show that airs on TV 10 from 1p.m to 2.30p.m, hosted by MC Ken and myself. The show has been a massive success with 11 episodes from season 1 and we are now in the 7th episode of the second season. 

The latest addition to the show is being able to do live requests for songs on TV entertainment, especially when it comes to the interactive part of it.

"The House Party” (a music mix show) is also about to make a massive comeback and with it will come a merger between two upcoming entertainment units, the "250 entertainment and Skratch Music Academy”.

The ambition for this merger is to finally expose the DJ talent that is in the country but goes unnoticed and, at the same time, provide quality entertainment on TV.

Q: What was the reaction of your fans when you started playing live TV shows?

A: The guys who watched it for the first time were quite overwhelmed and excited by this revolution in TV entertainment. Some said that they thought this would never become a reality in Rwanda. Our Facebook page was suddenly teeming with requests for live songs.

Q: What do you do in situations where the requests for different songs become so much that you cannot play all of them?

A: Since we started it two weeks ago, we have not experienced this kind of scenario where we are overwhelmed by requests. But what I know is that as the programme becomes more popular we anticipate that situation. We are going to regulate though we will try our best to satisfy everyone.

Q: Is this live TV show all about music? What other forms of entertainment are on the menu?

A: Our major aim is not just about song requests but theme discussion. We are engaging our viewers on topical issues that affect society today, be it in relationships and religion, among others. 

Viewers have the chance to interact with us one on one as we tackle the many issues that affect contemporary society. This interactive session is going to change the face of TV entertainment in Rwanda.

Q: For how long have you been working on this?

A: This is our brainchild. We have been working on this for the last six months or so and we were equally excited when it came to maturation with our first live TV musical show.  

EA Production (creator of both shows InSync and House party), is in the process of releasing new shows with fresh concepts for TV and, in the process, we are optimistic that job opportunities for the youth will emerge.

Q: What advice can you give the youth who would wish to be part of your innovative programmes?

A: Our parent company, EA Production, is currently involved in a number of programmes like production of TV and radio shows, organisation of events and advertisements, among others.

This is an all-round media company. Under it, we have Musik 250 entertainment that deals with music, DJ crew and playing at events. 

Musik 250 is going to merge with Skratch Music Academy where DJs from both companies are going to synthesise their talents and create something for the betterment of music in Rwanda.

We are also planning to establish a school where we will train young talents interested in dee-jeing. This is also going to be the first of its kind in Rwanda once the school is up and running (in Kigali).  

We have been collaborating with DJ Shalif to spot talents. We want to showcase the talents that we have and show the world that deejaying talent exists in this country.

We call upon the youth to come out and own this thing. We are currently looking for co-hosts for a number of our programmes and talented youth should come forward and grab this opportunity.

With other TV stations coming up, it’s going to promote a healthy competition and uplift the quality of entertainment. We hope that this will wake up sleeping giants and provide a healthy competition among TV stations, which at the end will benefit the viewers at home and also provide the "freedom of choice” for viewers to freely choose what their preference is.