Society DebatAncient Rwandan music is taking over !

Ancient Rwandan music is taking over ! A new broom could probably sweep well but the old one knows all the corners of the house. I undoubtedly believe in the saying in regard with Rwanda’s music. All along, I was mindless about song lyrics, provided there was a beat worth dancing to. How wrong I was. An interview with Rwanda’s celebrated musician Intore Masamba opened my eyes toward embracing ancient music and its rich impact on our beloved country of a thousand hills. “Rwanda’s historical music makes people aware of the beautiful history of our ancestors. A Rwanda with no genocide and divisionism,” Masamba said. If we are to put Intore Masamba, Cecile Kairebwa, Marie Jose or any traditional singer’s song on a weighing scale, the meaning and impact would be too heavy to ignore. Apart from its deep meaning, ancient music covered almost all areas of life. It encompassed a blend of culture, unity, hard work, and love at major times like weddings, harvest, naming ceremonies among others. Music in early Rwanda was a flavor rich in nature, surviving with almost no instruments but still driving the message home. On the contrary, with all the available instruments present, Rwandan music has less to exhibit apart from a few exceptions, it rotates around love, nothing much nothing less. Artists are busy mimicking Western Rn’B and hip-hop stars. The imitation goes as far as dress-code, talk and even names. Additionally, mimicking is a fact of confussion, meaning that our young artists don’t even know their identity; they fail to grasp lyrics with meaning and pass on worthy messages to their fans and listeners. Who says copy cats can ever learn anyway? Honestly, modern music has no such influence on me. Save for the beef in the music industry where the most untalented wannabe singer pays his recording studio to produce a song about an issue he would rather address in public with their brother, cousin or friend. Such songs are a hindrance to unity and indeed of negative impact. If ancient music wasn’t that valuable, by now it would be history. But guess what, traditional weddings can’t go without Masamba’s ‘Arihehe’. ‘Abakobwa b’iwacu’ is another all time song exhibiting Rwandan culture. In the modern music, cultural values are mostly omitted and replaced with crap messages. If we go strictly ‘modern/ new music’ definitely culture will be forgotten. And like they say, impact starts with embracing who we are, through cultural values. Collaborations with foreign musicians are yet another hindrance to positive outcomes in the Rwandan music industry today. I am not against collaboration, BUT I am certain it exposes musicians to other cultures. They end up campaigning for other causes, outside their country. For example, more songs on the genocide history, Nyakatsi eradication, HIV/AIDS voluntary testing would deliver a better message than songs on cheating, envy, and pimped up cars—are minor issues that do not really impact Rwanda as a whole. Musicians are meant to be ambassadors but new kids on the block are not doing it pretty well. I highly admire the way traditional musicians focused on their lyrics. They minded the impact of their words to the public. Today everyone is becoming a musician, talent doesn’t matter, if there is a recording studio ready to put that booming sound in a song, words can come in later. We should hold on to our traditional and ancient music style. I suggest Rwanda gets a music academy where traditional musicians can lecture upcoming artists about music. We need more Kayirebwas anyway. lillianean@yahoo.com