KEMMY IRANZI is one of many young folks who believe that African music, with different genres like ‘Amapiano’ the most recent booming genre, has a unique personal touch that makes it particularly entertaining for Africans. Iranzi is also trying to stay up to date with his own music career as an artiste.
He believes that Rwandans have a more distinct musical style, which he opted to partake in 2018.
"I admire Rwandans' ability to not just keep up with the latest genres but also to develop their own unique style. Plus, we can do a little mixing, which is something I do as well," he added.
The Rwandan national is 24year-old and is based in Alberta-Calgary, Canada. He has a dream of conquering both the diaspora and local audiences.
Starting off as an artiste
In 2018, Iranzi released his first song. It happened shortly after he graduated from high school. He says that as the first move toward a music career, he enrolled in piano lessons right away.
"I don't count all the songs I composed back in high school when I think of my first song," he recalls, laughing at the memories.
"I had friends who were equally gifted and crazy. We'd write some songs together and perform them for our peers, who would then hype and encourage us. But, let's be honest, it was of horrible quality, badly recorded, and produced, but it was my humble beginning."
‘Agatwenge’ was his first song, and it was followed by hits like ‘Blessing,’ an urban gospel ballad. ‘My Soul’, one of the songs on his recently released EP ‘Intro,’ is his most recent and most popular song. Three songs make up the intro: ‘My Soul,’ which is a solo, ‘PTSD’ feat. 25H, and ‘Ijyini’ feat. Jumpy Boyz.
Iranzi is also a songwriter who has written his own songs and is a beatmaker among other things. "At first, it wasn't much of a challenge for me.
One of my close friends is a producer and I had already written the song, so we went ahead and started working on it.”
However, his profession was derailed when he relocated to Canada. "It's not easy to make music for the Rwandan public while living in diaspora. It is, in fact, the most difficult part. Promotion is far more difficult in the diaspora, and that is only one aspect of the goal to win Rwandan hearts," he notes.
"Music is a means to connect to my roots," he says when asked why he keeps trying to win over the Rwandan audience. " I'm Rwandan, and it would mean a lot to me if my talent was recognised in Rwanda first before it was recognised anywhere else," he emphasized.
He pledges to do his best to create the best music for Rwandans, and he asks for their support.
"I didn't forget about Rwanda even if I don't live there anymore. Rwanda should not forget about me neither!" he says, "and one way to help me and fellow musicians, is to buy our songs on platforms other than YouTube. We not only profit from it, but we are also motivated. This is true for both local and diaspora artistes."
Under the name 'Kemmy Iranzi,' he can be found on Spotify, Amazon, Apple Music, Audiomack, Youtube, and other platforms.
"Rwandans should be ready; I have a project in the works for them. It will be unveiled on February when we celebrate Valentine's Day. And one big Rwandan artiste will be featured on the song” he says. However, the artiste is yet to be revealed.