Youngster Shemi is constantly on the move, with only less than 12-months since the premiering of his debut track ‘Peace of Mind’, which made him a household name in the country. The 18-year old high school student is back at the top of charts after featuring on a new track dubbed ‘Solo’ acclaimed to be the best song to come out in the last few months and nicknamed ‘2023 summer Anthem’.
It is a project produced by a collective of promising talents, from DJ Pyfo, who is the brains behind the track, to Shemi’s voice and B Threy’s flows, hard groovy beat crafted by Hybbie who also produced Peace of Mind, and recordings made by Joeca$$h, Solo’s production is at the center of almost every musical conversation in town.
Also read: Meet Shemi, the ‘Peace of Mind’ star
The making of 'Solo' dates way back when Pyfo first encountered Shemi in Bujumbura during the Trappish concert Burundi edition.
"I first heard Shemi’s voice on Rwanda Rwe’jo 2 and I thought to myself, I have never heard anything like this before. I wanted to know who this kid is, where he lives and everything about him. He sounded so good,” DJ Pyfo told The New Times.
Initially, Pyfo said, the idea to feature did not immediately come until the two musicians met in Bujumbura during the first Trappish concert in the country which had brought together dozens of young Rwandan musicians including Shemi.
Also read: Meet Pyfo, a DJ changing the partying game in Kigali
"After returning home, we had a good session at Pro Zed’s studio and we jumped on different beats but the first ones weren’t really giving us the vibe we wanted until Shemi played us a beat produced by Huybbie and everyone knew it was the one,” Pyfo noted.
A few seconds after, Pyfo recalls everyone vibing to the beat while Shemi was recording the first verse and chorus of the song but something was missing.
"The beat and Shemi’s vocals were matching but something was not adding up and we noticed that a rapper would do magic on the beat. B Threy had just finished recording a song and were sitting right next to us in the studio. we wanted someone to rap in Kinyarwanda and we knew he was the right man for the job.”
"He listened to the beat, jumped on it and history was made,” the renowned DJ added.
Premiered on July 28, ‘Solo’ was directed by The Jewish brothers and Chico Berry while audio production was handled by Huybbie, Romiyo, ProZed, and Jokassh. It is currently among the most trending songs in the country with over 100, 000 views on Youtube within 12 days.