Young artistes climbing the treacherous mountain of fame and fortune

Forget stories of singers having posh cars, huge houses, bountiful groupies, designer clothes and jewellery. While that might happen in the United States, in Rwanda it is totally a different story especially if you are new artiste trying to get a toehold in the local music scene. These young men and women are struggling with little support.Charles Hirwa, a 23-year-old gospel artiste and founder of the group Heaven Sent, has been singing for about a year now. Like many others he hasn’t made many inroads in the road to fame. To make things worse he dropped out of school to pursue his dreams.“I started singing with a number of friends but today, I’m alone. Singing has always been my passion and there is music within me. When I was in high school, I really didn’t like class work. I always wanted to sing and I decided to take my singing passion as a career after senior six,” he said. Hirwa took this decision against his parents and relative’s wishes. He now regrets his decision because of the rough life he is facing today. “When I release a song, I have to take it to the radio station and bribe the presenters to play it otherwise they will never play the song. It always happens with upcoming artistes,” he complained. “We have to live, pay rent and have concerts. You find that the only money we get is from selling CDs which are hardly bought because all the music is pirated.” He added that other than wanting bribes to play songs, DJs also tend to play songs of the artistes they are friends with. Responding to Charles’s allegations, DJ Tiger Ndoli, a freelance DJ at a number of radio stations, says that he plays music that his audience likes and isn’t biased.“Yes some DJs may do that but it’s totally unprofessional and isn’t supposed to be that way. Yes I must admit at some events we are tempted to play friends songs just to promote them but it doesn’t stop us from playing other people’s songs too especially when the song is good,” he said. DJ Tiger Ndoli added that upcoming artistes sometimes have substandard songs and then blame the DJ’s for not playing them. “My Parents won’t let me sing”Henry (not real name) a 22-year-old student at the Kigali University of Science and Technology believes that music is his destiny. “I am a great artiste. I post my songs on You Tube and people like them. I get a number of hits and my friends really enjoy my rhymes but my parents never want to hear me say the word music,” Henry said in a sad voice. To go to the studio, Henry has to lie that he is going for a discussion at school and when he sings, he can’t let anyone know who sang his part. “When I am in class all I think about is writing songs. I don’t think school is what I’m supposed to be doing, but my parents just won’t let me do what I think is right for me,” he said. “I feel very frustrated especially when people tell me I can sing and yet my parents don’t let me.”Henry added that he would follow his passion and keep his talent under wraps until he was able to leave his parents’ house and live alone. Sacrifices will need to be madeGloria Uwamahoro, a member of the well-known multilingual gospel group, Anointed Vessels, says that she faced the same problems like Charles and Henry. “Yes, that moment when you tell your parents you want to be a singer is very hard. But what most people don’t realise is parents won’t really mind when you promise them that your performance in class isn’t going to decline,” she advised. The first time she told her parents that she wanted to have a career in music they hesitated at first to give her their approval. She convinced them that she was still going to put as much effort in her academics as she would put in singing. Gloria graduated from KIST with a degree in Quantity Survey.“And as for money, the one thing I have realised is you have to invest in your own music at first. Money doesn’t just come without any effort. Get yourself known and then after that get many sponsors and people will invite you to different countries because they love your music”, Uwamahoro advices new artistes. Devydenko, a famous music producer from the F2K studio in Nyamirambo, receives many upcoming artistes every month. “I have dealt with a number of upcoming artistes and we usually help them according to the level they are at and it is usually a success. As much as can we help, they also have to go the extra mile themselves because they usually lack funds,” he said. Without the necessary foundations to a thriving music scene like managers, music labels and investors, the young men and women who dream of becoming the next R. Kelly and French Montana will have to dig even deeper. Nothing will come easy.