|
|
Rwanda: Changing the Youth By Using Their Own Language
 |
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
Focus Media (Kigali)
23 June 2008
Posted to the web 23 June 2008
Timothy Kisambira
Initially there were three Chiizis who met at high school in 2005: Eric Rugina aka Lyrics, Joseph Rugina aka JR (Fire Rinks), and Brian Muhuza aka Rome-D (Mystics).
In 2006, they were joined by Raul Kayonga aka Mr. Flavor and Loiver Serubiri aka Oliday.
In the same year, they made their first single Kitu Kimoja ("One thing") and featured with Equivoque in the video clip Shake It. They also met with Dr Dominick Ntirushwa, who became interested in Chiizi Family and became their sponsor.
2007 saw the production of their first video clip, Party, as well as a tour around schools where they performed their three songs. Later that year, the Family recorded another song called Winsiga ("Don't live me").
Their steady progress will culminate this year when they will meet with Ugandan star producer Steve Jean in Uganda to help them finish their 12- song album, aptly called Kiiti kimoja after their first song. And they will rub shoulders with the big ones, as they have been scheduled to record a song with Juliana Kanyomozi.
As for the future, the Chiizi Family plans to go on a tour of Rwanda in 2009 with their songs about violence against women, children's rights and Aids, amongst others.
Lack of origin
"I began singing in 2004, just miming other artist's song," says Eric Rugina. After a while, he drew inspiration from Roba of Kalamashaka in Kenya and started writing his own lyrics in Kiswahili.
Hip-Hop came natural to him, he explains, since he grew up in Nairobi Dandora where Kalamashaka are based, and where that style of music is very popular.
As for Hip-Hop in Rwanda, Lyrics is hopeful that one day it will mature, yet he complains that at this moment the genre here has no sense of origin.
"Hip-Hop here is just a matter of 'copy and paste'. We need to have our original stuff, because this business of copying other artists, especially western ones, doesn't not make us real.
"If we were more original, people should love and promote our music, and stop criticizing us. Can you imagine that even people who organize events don't like our music?
"For example, [ORTPN director] Chantal Rugamba is always saying that we should promote our own culture, yet the other day when the P-Square guys were in the country, she started comparing us to them, saying how much better they were! Man, these fellows have been singing for so long; looking at the history of our country, it's obvious that we need time to make it," Eric fumes.
Creative game
Lyrics also hints at another big problem, which is that most radio DJs are also singers, so they keep on playing their own music and not that of other artists. "How are upcoming artists going to be promoted when their songs are not played on the radio?" Eric wonders.
Erics' cousin Joseph began his carrier in Mombassa in 2002 when, inspired by his friend Mubarack, he started singing while he was a student. Later that year, he went to Kigezi high school in Uganda and joined a choir.
He came back home to Rwanda the next year, and became a dancer in a group called Top Class. From there it was only a small step to link up with Eric and join the Chiizi Family.
DMX being his favorite, he has always been attracted to Hip-Hop, which he calls "a creative game."
|
"You have to be creative with Hip-Hop because, this style of music is quite new here. Also, many people associate it with gangsters, so you have to make sure to give your music a message so as to stand out. Nevertheless, I believe that with Hip-Hop we can change the youth, because it's a youth language," JR says.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 Focus Media. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
