20 DJs were selected at the first ever DJ’s competition auditions held on Saturday, August 6, in Kigali at Onomo Hotel.

Dubbed "DJ Battle Competition”, the contest is being organised by M&K with a goal to promote DJs and create public awareness of the talent and quality music in Rwanda, as well as provide business opportunities, networking, and leisure activities through competitions.

The DJs who wished to participate in the contest registered by sending a not-more-than-five-minute video showing a sample of their mixing skills with a brief introduction before August 6.

The panel of judges made of DJ Pius, DJ Sharif and DJ Khadir decided on the top 20 contestants among 49 who attended the auditions to move to the next stage of the competition that will be reduced to 10 contestants next week. In the female’s category only three DJs named DJ Roxy, DJ Brianne and DJ Ira secured their tickets to the next stage

The 20 contestants who were selected for the next stage are DJs KayG, Selekta Danny, Araphat, Kiss, Khizz Beats, Mico, Selekta Gomez, Beast, Kavori, Joe the Drummer, Trapboy, Selekta Kuno, Snoop, Mikey, Mask, Kigali Beats, Sooky, Niyem, Pop and Dj Yan.

On August 20, a four-man panel of judges made up of Nigeria’s DJ Neptune, who recently performed in Kigali in June, South African DJ Khathu, Uganda’s DJ Khadir and Rwanda’s DJ Sharif, the founder of local DJ School ‘Scratch Music Academy’, will decide the top five that will progress to the finals.

The winners of the contest will be announced during the grand finale slated for August 27, at Camp Kigali. The overall winner will walk away with a brand-new Mercedes Benz car worth RWF 25 million as the top prize for the contest. 

Besides the top prize, organisers will also recognise the best upcoming DJ with a cash prize of RWF2 million while the best female DJ will be awarded equipment worth RWF 5 million.