Babu The 10 year-old started rapping two years ago just like any kid struggling with the voice and torn lyrics. But the “That’s my name” rapper has progressed so fast and lately has threatened to compete with some of the seniors on the rap arena. He also has an album of his own already. Just Family; A few weeks after dismissing their figure head, Kim Kizito, the three boys seemed not able to carry on with their music. But by the end of 2011, they had made a major comeback, winning an East African award for Best Group in Rwanda, and launching their “Bindimo” album. They may be destined to return to competition with the best music groups, where they once were. Fireman A year ago, he was just known as a silent member of the Tuff Gang hip-hop group. After his high school which had kept him busy though, Fireman released a couple of hit songs, like “Mama Rwanda” and appeared on many gigs, performing alongside his co-singer, Jay Polly. There should be no surprises if he rises to be the next hip-hop king, 2012. Danny; Only the few who don’t know him will ask why this teen rapper is appearing on this list. For beginners, Danny is one of the few natural rappers Rwanda proudly has, though his name is rarely mentioned in showbiz. His late success in collaborations with artistes especially Knowless, and his own singles suggest that this might be Danny’s year- who knows? Producer Junior has done audio production backstage for long. With the inspiration of famous co-worker producers like Lick Lick, Junior showed signs of emerging as a smart producer, and perhaps beat his forerunners. Look out for his new work with some of the good artists, like the Urban Boys group. Eric Kabera It sounded unrealistic when Eric Kabera first dreamt of levelling Rwanda’s movie industry with some of the developed, like Bollywood. His founding of the Rwanda Cinema Centre which popularly organizes the annual Rwanda Film Festival has drastically changed the face of cinema here. Dates are already set for the 8th Edition of the event 2012; watch this space to see what the film-maker has got for the industry this year. emma.munyaneza@newtimes.co.rw
