The Kigali Night ‘Meet & Greet Diaspora & Kigalians’ event that took place in Kigali for the first time brought together Rwandans from different parts of the world on December 30 at Onomo Hotel.
Organised by MB Simba Safaris Rwanda Ltd, and in its 7th edition, the event usually takes place in London to connect Rwandans in the Diaspora by celebrating Rwandan culture through traditional music and comedy.
The cultural evening kicked off at 8pm and was hosted by Rwanda’s comedy duo Zuby. Upcoming star Kaayi performed first, being a fast-rising singer in the industry, this was a chance to showcase his talent to a bigger audience.
After Kaayi’s performance, Zuby asked the audience to subscribe to Kaayi’s YouTube channel where they can keep up with his music and support him. They cracked jokes and teased people who were not in the VIP section, and said ‘they are from Gasyata and there is no way they have passports’, which had the audience laughing.
American artistes are very different compared to Rwandan artistes, especially on stage. Chris Brown on stage gifts his fans his jackets, but for a Rwandan artiste like Bruce Melodie, he makes sure his jacket goes to his manager after taking it off,” they joked.
Around 9pm, Gakondo singer Joel Ruti hit the stage with his now trending ‘Cyane’ as the crowd cheered him on. As he has been doing lately, he sang the late Yvan Buravan’s song ‘I love you too’ saying that he (Buravan) was ‘Inkongi Cyane’ as the artiste used to call himself. Ruti danced and excited the crowd and it was clear that the crowd wanted more.
When legendary Gakondo singer Intore Masamba stepped on stage, things took a turn. The crowd couldn’t contain their excitement. They got off their seats and danced and sang along to most of his songs that they seemed to know by heart.