New campaign aims to promote Rwandan music

The campaign aims to promote local musicians through roadshows across Rwanda. It will feature artists Ama G The Black, Mico The Best, Safi Madiba, Asinah and P-Fla.

“We want to wake Rwandans up and show support to local artists, to motivate them for the great job they are doing," Radio presenter and Rwandan Music First organiser Joel Rutaganda told The New Times.

"Local music is underrated because music from international musicians is dominating the media, which is supposed to be the other way around. This campaign is the only way we can value our musicians if we really want to push them beyond borders.

Rutaganda said the campaign, which is planned to be held annually, would also seek to increase the popularity of Rwandan musicians in the East African region.

“Departing from Kigali in May with The Ben for Blankets and Wine in Kampala, we thought he was going to be the concert’s main performer as expected. But he was the first performer. Instead, upcoming rapper Fik Fameika was the star of the show.

"We were all surprised and so we started to investigate how popular Rwandan music really is in Uganda,” Rutaganda said, adding that the only popular Rwandan musicians in Uganda are those who had collaborated with Ugandan artists. They included The Ben, Meddy and female duo Charly na Nina.

Rutaganda said music from his country needed to be spread across East Africa by DJs and local media. He said that while they were in Uganda, they had discovered that about 95% of the music played on radio and TV was by Ugandan artists.

The Rwandan Music First campaign will also be held in the Nyagatare, Rwamagana, Muhanga, Huye, Rubavu and Musanze districts in the coming months.