From MC Norman to Saga Assou

He started his journey into broadcasting in 2004, at Radio 10, the country’s first privately owned broadcaster. Before the entry of Radio 10 into the local market, the only choice one had was the state broadcaster, Radio Rwanda. Although the national radio gave decent airplay to local musicians, the playlist was heavily dominated by the older generation artistes, whose music was perceived to be more decent. “Many talented young artistes feared to sing because they believed that no one would listen to them or play their song on radio,” Norman recalls. At Radio 10, one of the strategies taken was to give airplay to a wider range of musicians, including the young generation. The only problem was how and where to find the musicians and their music, since it was not readily available in public domain. Norman remarks that then, the situation was the exact opposite of what it is today. “These days when a musician releases a single and wants it played, they go and look for radio presenters and DJs and street promoters to push their song. Many of these artistes are just improvising and producing half-cooked work because they know that with some money, they can push for it. That is why a hit today can play on the radio for three weeks, and when the artiste stops paying the presenters some giti (bribes), they immediately drop it from the playlist.” So what was the situation like in his own time? “I used to personally visit musicians door-to-door and walk into every single studio looking for new songs to play on the radio. At times I would host the artiste in the studio for a live chat on my show.” He recalls that at the time, public interest in local music was steadily rising, catalysed by the new, entertainment-based radio format. “There was a time when I traveled to Kampala just to look for an artiste called Mako Nikoshwa because he had two songs, Agaseko, and Nkunda kuragira that were big hits in Kampala, and yet were not known in his home country. “It gave me the opportunity to discover many new artistes and studios. I didn’t stop at profiling local musicians, but also music studios and producers. Studios like T.F.P, and Busy Bee Productions were doing a good job producing for young upcoming talent, and they needed some one to shine a candle on their work. For me, that was like giving people food they did not want at first. I was bringing a new dish on people’s plates, and to make that food tasty in their ears required dedication and innovation.” Changed man As of now, MC Norman is no more, and, in his place is the new, rebranded Saga Assou. He reveals that the name Saga means “legend” in some language, and I’m quick to ask why he would want to assume such a title: “I’m a legend, I believe, in as far as promotion of our own music on local airwaves is concerned.” With the changed man also came new priorities. Early this year, Saga founded a company, Communication For Development (C4D). His reasons for starting C4D? “The idea of C4D first struck me when I realised that most of our musicians today are singing for fun and to be popular. “Whatever we do in music is to put a message across, and the purpose of communication is to cause development both at individual and national level. In communication, the goal should be to show people what to do, and let them pick from the available options. Don’t tell them what to do. I think that’s the best part of communication in general.” At Ubumwe House, just below the KBC complex in Kimihurura, is where his pet project is to be found. Walking into the lobby on the first floor, the feel one gets is like that of walking into a small general consultancy firm. Saga employs a small team of young people and, as managing director, has the standard work station complete with neat rows of files and paper work. But as a music producer and singer in his own right, he often finds himself drifting off into the C4D audio recording studios adjacent to his workstation. Saga seems to have his fingers in so many pies: audio production, events management, branding, product promotion, advertising, you name it. “We basically do consultancy and advertising work, production, printing, design and research. But by far the biggest thrust of C4D is the in-house audio studio, which not only produces songs for local artistes, but also makes radio soaps and spots, jingles, and professional podcasts for those that want their radio programmes pre-recorded. On any given day, local up-coming musicians are to be found milling about, baying for studio time. “We support and advise our customers through the analysis of the situation, creative and strategic designing, development, branding, testing, implementation and monitoring, evaluation, and re-planning. We also advise our clients on the best communication channels, whether mass media, mid-level or interpersonal communication models to use to fit in their budgets.