Artistes pay tribute to Jay Polly through music
Wednesday, September 08, 2021

RWANDAN SINGERS were saddened by Jay Polly’s passing and one way some of them are paying their tributes is through songs.

After the death of the rapper was announced , a short video of Ariel Wayz and Juno Kizigenza in studio emerged, doing what seemed like a cover of a chorus of one of the popular songs, ‘Amaganya’ by Tuff Gang, a band which the Jay Polly was formerly a member of.

Another song, ‘R.I.P Jay Polly’ by Yampano featuring Fireman, Young Kevin and Mozzy, released on September 3, had the singers expressing how heartbroken by his death caused and how he left too soon which is why it is so hard to believe that he passed away.

Speaking to The New Times, Florien Yampano said, "After getting the news about his death, I was so heartbroken and as an artist, I talked to my management team and we agreed to send him off well via a song, because, Jay Polly was my role model in music.

 Jay paved way for us as young artists and now we are shining because of his effort, we couldn’t resist paying tribute to him.”

He added that the artistes were Jay Polly’s good friends and had done some projects with Jay Polly before.

On September 5, ‘Bye Jay Polly’ was also released by Rwanda All-stars with its official video. Faces and voices of L John, Social Mula, Diplomate, Marina, P Fla, Mico The Best, Khalfan Govinda and B Threy are all seen and heard in this song, with the video starting with a footage of Jay Polly sharing stage with the Nigerian artist, Davido.

Li John, who was Jay Polly’s official producer and the one who initiated the idea of this song, speaking to this publication said, "We really wanted to remind the world that Jay Polly is a legend and we had to pay tribute to him. That’s why I called these artists. There were some others that I talked to who were not yet ready to absorb the sad news and so they couldn’t manage to be in the song. However, I am thankful to them all especially the ones who worked with the minimum timeline we had for both audio and video.”

B Threy who also featured in the song added: "Jay was my big brother, very genuine and free spirited. On behalf of the entire young generation, we are so sad for the loss of a King in Hip Hop.” 

Riderman who requested all the people that attended the FIBA Afro Basket Ball final games on September 5, at Kigali Arena to take a minute to pay tribute to his late counterpart, Jay Polly also released his ‘R.I.P Jay’ the same day.

"Jay Polly was such a talented artist in a very unique style. Nobody can do what he did or replace him since he had an extraordinary talent. However, we will do all it takes to raise the Hip Hop flag like the way Jay Polly fought for that legacy.”