For the past few weeks, the internet has been awash with claims of two of Rwanda’s popular singers, The Ben and Bruce Melodie, being at loggerheads, with one Gael Karomba reportedly at the center of it all. It all started with claims that some people were trying to “sabotage” The Ben’s concert in Bujumbura, Burundi – on October 1, and it was later claimed that it was Karomba, commonly known as Coach Gael in the showbiz industry, who was behind the plot. For those who do not know, Coach Gael is a businessman, motivational coach and owner of the 1.55am label, the production house Bruce Melodie belongs to. He is known to be behind the singer’s recent successes and blossoming career. The former US-based entrepreneur is a polarizing figure in the industry. Some claim he is contributing to the growth of the music industry with his investments while others claim he is up to no good, pitting artistes against each other. So polarizing that it is now believed that even some showbiz journalists and social media influencers have seemingly taken sides on the issue – while others argue that it is all about ‘Agatwiko’. ‘Agatwiko’ is a term used in the Rwandan showbiz industry to loosely mean “intentionally” causing controversy or doing something scandalous to attract media or social media attention, either to remain relevant or to hype up the release of a new product, whether it is a song, album or film. However, going by Bruce Melodie’s recent interview with journalist Irene Mulindahabi, indeed there seems to be some ‘beef’, as it is commonly known in the music industry, between himself and The Ben’s camp, much as he dismissed it. In the lead up to The Ben’s successful show in the Burundian capital, media in Rwanda was awash with stories of the concert likely to be sabotaged. It later emerged that The Ben had expressed fears of a possible sabotage ahead of the concert, something which was later cemented by chats published by a local showbiz journalist, of someone warning The Ben to be careful. The person cautioned the U.S-based singer that ‘some guys’ were working behind the scenes to fail the concert and in response The Ben wondered what he could have done to ‘those people’, without mentioning them. Later on, on social media, it was said that it was Bruce Melodie’s team with Karomba at the heart of it all, who attempted to sabotage the show. In an interview later, Bruce Melodie laughed off the claims, pointing out that he has nothing against The Ben, who he considers his ‘elder brother’, and would not do anything to sabotage him. At the time, The Ben did not categorically come out to accuse Bruce Melodie or Karomba but the tension could be felt as the said names made rounds on social media. Some individuals led by Alex Muyoboke organised to go and support the singer in Bujumbura while spaces were held on X, formerly known as Twitter, to breakdown the developments. When the concert in Burundi eventually happened, The Ben could not hold back, shedding tears of relief before the crowd and thanked God that the enemy was defeated. He used the opportunity to preach love. We are always aspiring to defeat our enemies and even when our enemies shake us, we eventually defeat them,” “The enemy will always be defeated. The enemy hunting you, fighting you, wherever you are, will always be defeated in Jesus’s name,” The Ben said, amidst sobs. Some people tried to sabotage my show. There are people who oppose you everywhere you go, people who are jealous of you, who say bad things about you. This show was almost sabotaged but God did it for us,” a seemingly relieved The Ben told the crowd. The show itself was characterised by a number of sagas, including The Ben’s phone which was stolen in Bujumbura, and it was later reportedly traced in Kigali and the theft was later linked to ‘the same people in Rwanda who reportedly tried to sabotage the show. In an interview later, music industry personality Alex Muyoboke said indeed there could have been some people trying to sabotage The Ben’s show and there were signs to prove it. Local media reported that among other things, some individual, who was later traced back to Rwanda, tried to hack the ticket website and later attempted to sell counterfeit tickets but was later busted. It was reported that in a scuffle that ensued, Muyoboke slapped a one ‘X-dealer’, who was said to be working for the said people. A local showbiz journalist claimed that the said individual was paid Rwf3m to sabotage The Ben. Bruce Melodie speaks out Speaking in Ngoma ahead of Iwacu Muzika show on Saturday, Bruce Melodie once again reiterated that he personally has no issue with The Ben and that he never did anything to make the show in Burundi flop. Instead, the ‘Saa Moya’ singer said that whatever has been said about this issue has showed him that people are scared of him and added that if The Ben, his elder brother, continues to listen to whatever is being said, he will no longer respect him as he does. “I didn’t print a photo to hang in Burundi, but even if it was done, how can a photo stop a concert? Print his photo and bring it here and see if I won’t rock this crowd here,” he said. “I respect The Ben as my big brother but if he continues to listen to these rumours, I might stop putting the respect on him,” he said. Bruce Melodie, who previously said that he intimidates most artistes of his calibre because he is hardworking, said that if it will take a battle on stage, he is up for it and it will all be sorted there. Previously, Bruce Melodie said in an interview that the U.S-based artistes were ‘lazy’ because they release one song in a year yet he is able to produce multiple hits in a short period. These claims rattled the music industry, with some accusing Bruce Melodie of arrogance. In the recent interview, the singer repeated the same claim and said that he has no time to engage in petty fights. Without mentioning names, he said that he is surprised to see old people with bald heads and tummies getting involved in this petty talk, a claim some said he was referring to Muyoboke, who has not minced words in accusing Bruce Melodie’s camp. However, according to local media reports, the issue goes way back to The Ben’s previous engagements with Coach Gael. Before taking up Bruce Melodie, the entrepreneur first collaborated with The Ben on different music projects, including songs with big African and International stars, including Diamond, Gyptian, Joe Boy, Tiwa Savage and many others. It is however reported that The Ben, who had agreed with Coach Gael to work on a mega album, up to the tune of $150, 000, was not moving as fast as expected in inking collaborations with artistes and working on music. It is reported that the investor, Coach Gael, got frustrated after investing heavily in The Ben’s projects which dragged on for long, including the song with Diamond, ‘Why’, which cost much more than expected because the singer ‘was slow’. That was in 2021. According to a local media outlet which followed the developments, upon realising that he had spent a lot on The Ben without much to show of it, the 1.55am executive producer started to look for another artiste who was ‘more hard working’. A local producer Madebeat proposed Bruce Melodie and got them in touch. As they say, the rest is history. Karomba immediately connected with Bruce Melodie and they started working on different music projects in 2022. It is at this point that wrangles between The Ben and Coach Gael started, with the businessman reportedly pursuing The Ben for a refund, for the money he had reportedly advance him and also the amount he had invested in projects up to the tune of $150, 000, including interests. It is reported that the India-educated businessman vowed to pursue the singer until he gets back his money, according to reports. On his part, Karomba posted a video on social media on September 26, asking people to ask him all sorts of questions after following what was being said on social media. He promised to respond in a subsequent video. Majority of the questions centred on the issues around his relationship with The Ben but to date, Coach Gael is yet to respond to the questions posed to him.
