Aimable Ishimwe, commonly known by his stage name Aime Prince, is an upcoming artiste keen on love ballads. The R&B singer has had an interest in music since senior one, however, his parents weren’t supportive of this path for fear that he would get diverted and give up on his studies, or wouldn’t perform to the best of his ability in class. Prince almost let his talent slip away as his parents were convinced that he would join bad groups and pick up bad behaviour. He assured them that music was part of him and there was no way he would be happy in life without it. His parents gave him the benefit of the doubt, with time, they had no option but to support him. They are now his biggest fans. Starting music The singer says he started in senior three, fortunately, the school he was in, ES Kanombe High School, supported students who wanted to sing. They even provided musical instruments such as a piano, guitars, among others, and taught learners how to play them. Prince used this opportunity to boost his talent. When he joined A-level at ES Gishoma School where he was part of the school’s choir and the choir leader, he was also an instrumentalist. Having joined University of Rwanda’s College of Education studying mathematics and computer science, he also decided to be part of the university’s Catholic choir ‘Fons vivus’, where he is also a choir leader. In 2017, he started doing music as a career. He loves composing romantic songs because he finds them effortless to write and sing. “R&B is a genre that is easily understood in Rwanda which is why I focused on it,” he says. So far, the songster has one album comprised of six songs namely, “Undimo”, “Ndagukunda”, “Ndanyuzwe”, “Tugumane -Nshyira mumubare” and “Hindura.” He has won local music awards at the district level, and scooped the Kivu Award as Best R&B Artist of the Year in Western Province 2019 to 2020. The vocalist was also awarded this year for composing a district song for Rusizi. In 2019 he was among the 10 young artistes selected in all districts of the country in the ‘Hanga Higa’ music competition organised by singer Alain Muku. In 2020, he won an award for the Best Artiste in Kinyaga zone (Rusizi, Nyamasheke, and Karongi), among other achievements. Since he is still studying and doesn’t have a job yet, he notes that his biggest challenge is finances, which is the reason many young artistes disappear from the music scene after releasing a song or two. “My parents gave me the financial support that enabled me to record and shoot videos for my songs, a thing I don’t take for granted,” he says. His Rwandan role model is King James and he looks forward to collaborating with him. “I am doing better with my music on my own, no external support has pushed me to be better. I want to prove to my fans that I am great and they should continue supporting me. I will never regret why I chose music,” he says. His wish is to be able to entertain people at different concerts once events start, but also to use online platforms to share his music. He has hopes of being one of the best local artistes. Prince has no doubt that once school is done, he will have all the time to release more music. The artiste has a YouTube channel, Aime Prince Official, where all is music can be accessed.
