Ten years ago, music was just a hobby for Afrobeat and RnB singer Peace Jolis. At that time, he was not concerned about what people said about his music even though he was talented.
He spent most of time, during his high school holidays, in studio recording songs, including his very first ‘Nakoze Iki’ in 2009, which his producer would release by the time he was back to school.
He never cared whether his songs became hits or flops because his focus was mainly on studies.
But when he auditioned for the Tusker Project Fame Season 6 (TPF6) contest back in 2013 in Nairobi, Kenya, the singer realised that his talent could take him places.
"The way I was treated when Patrick Nyamitari, Phiona Mbabazi and I flew together for the Tusker Project Fame auditions in Kenya, made me rethink about my talent. From the fancy hotels that we were staying in to the coaches who were mentoring us, it hit me that this was because of my talent,” he said.
"Talent is like hidden wealth that God gives you. From there, I started to say to myself ‘I better be serious [with music],” he added.
Coming back from TPF6, the singer started to build a career in music and Mashirika Performing Arts were the first to explore his potential as a singer.
Over the years, the 29-year-old, has been producing good music and a few can doubt his talent. He however, can be rarely seen at big stages which some could have blamed on the events’ organisers that overlook him when lining up headliners.
The singer however told The New Times, in an interview, that he instead blames his ups and downs in his career to the limited resources and studies that he completed just over a year ago.
"I could drop a song and go, then come back with another song after some time and go back again. People missed me but I was concentrating on myself and looking for a strategy to push my music through to the market,” he said.
The comeback
In January this year, Jolis gave himself a target of one year to rediscover his potential in music by investing more time and resources in releasing new songs on a regular basis.
He has since released four songs, ‘Bihwaniyemo’, ‘Ntibyavamo’, and his latest ‘Icyo’, as well as a coronavirus-themed song ‘Stay Home Save Lives’.
As a result, he became one of the performers of the East African Promoters’ ongoing ‘My Talent’ live concerts, after he delivered an entertaining performance on Saturday, November 21, live on Rwanda Television.
"I put in a lot of effort on my music this year by dropping songs consistently and now concert organisers are already inviting me to perform at shows. I want to carry on this passion and release more songs consistently as I target to perform at more concerts in the coming days,” he said
The singer also shared that he is finalizing his seven-song EP (Extended Play) which he expects to release between the end of December and January next year.