Rwandan afro-fusion artist Mico working on debut album

Mico says he was passionate about music and at the age of nine he joined the Intore dance troupe who performed traditional Rwandan dances. As his musical tastes evolved Mico later tried his hand at pop music which was taking root in Rwanda. Together with his elder brother he co-founded G.N Family dancing troupe. They worked together until 2008 when he took a break to focus on his studies.

In 2015 Mico made a comeback with the single ‘Uwimicomyiza’ followed by ‘Igikobwa’, which gave him a remarkable exposure after receiving nomination for the TV10’s Iwacu Night video of the month in September 2015. Mico says the song 'Igikobwa' was conceived out of a debate with his friends about nicknames in Rwanda. “My song ‘Igikobwa’ is a result of the debate I had with my colleagues about different special titles among lovers. I was insisting on the fact that Igikobwa is more expressive than other names such as baby, cherie, chouchou, sweetie.

Recently he released the single “Mwita Mama” which he recorded on the occasion of the 2016 Mother’s Day celebration. The single is a dedication to all mothers for their incomparable love and care towards children. The song was conceptualized after he had been invited to perform during a birthday for a mother of one of his friends.

“I already had an idea of recording a song for mothers but I hadn’t planned when. A friend of mine invited me to his mother’s birthday celebration that fell on the same date with ‘Mothers’ Day’ celebration,” Mico says about the song. While rehearsing Boyz II Men’s ‘A Song for Mama’ for the function he conceived this song and decided to surprise his friend with his own composition. He later recorded the song.

With the success of his singles like ‘Igikobwa’ Mico is now working on his debut album which he says will include 10 songs. Already he has recorded six songs and is working on the last four. With an aim of creating music that promotes people’s wellbeing while educating them.

His performance at the KigaliUp Festival has also further motivated him to work more on his craft as a live performer.

“KigaliUP Festival was the first time I was performing at a big event since my come back in 2015. This was an opportunity to showcase my music to the big audience and persuade them that I can do it better.” He says he invested all he had in rehearsals and that this efforts paid off as he received positive feedback from the audience. His biggest moment at the festival was performing alongside Cameroonian singer Kareyce Fotso, American acts Skyler Jett and Quantum Split. He says he learnt a lot from Soleil Laurent’s performance of the Quantam Split band. Mico is motivated by the band’s stage energy and this is something he wants to improve on in his future performances.

Rwandan music industry

Commenting about Rwandan music, Mico says that the industry in Rwanda is constantly developing when it comes to the quality of production, music education, infrastructures, policies and business orientation. Nevertheless he notes that the setback is that while this developments are notable within Rwanda’s capital Kigali, the rest cannot be said of the other towns in Rwanda. “Extending music as a profession outside the capital appears to be a huge challenge nearly 99% of music activities are held in Kigali. Thus everybody who wants to venture into music has to move Kigali to access the facilities and opportunities,” Mico states.

Irrespective of the challenges, Mico says he is keen on breaking into new territories. He says collaborating with other artists is one way. He says he would like to collaborate with acts such as South Africa’s Zahara and Kenyan pop group Sauti Sol.

Besides music, Mico is an Editorial Manager at Bakame Editions a non-profit publishing house that aims at developing children’s book publishing in Rwanda. In future Mico plans to invest in art for social and economic transformation.