Renowned legendary singer Abdul Makanyaga is set to celebrate his golden jubilee in music in October. The 75-year-old revealed the celebration earlier this week, saying he will perform in the districts of Huye, Rusizi, Rubavu, Musanze and the City of Kigali. In an interview with Weekender, Makanyaga says that 50 years in music means luck because God has been on his side. “The journey of 50 years in music has been bumpy. I have been lucky, not that I was better than others, because they are so many who were even greater than me but they are not here anymore,” he says. Makanyaga adds that not giving up no matter what people said and knowing his goals and determination had a huge impact on his career. “When we started music, people were calling us funny names and relating us to people who adopted those names such as “Sagihobe” a man who played “Umuduri” (a traditional music instrument) but didn’t know what he wanted,” he says. He further says that although every singer at the time was considered a drunkard, he knew some of the legends in music had also had great challenges in their careers. That inspired him to make it one day. He says that he had to avoid drugs and anything that would put him off track, and started focusing on his creativity and being humble. The dates and venues of his shows and musicians and the line-up of performers will soon be announced, according to his management. The artiste is waging close ties with Kina Music Label and producer Jimmy, about the new jams and collabos to feature on his medley album, to be performed during the concerts. Born and raised in Huye District, Makanyaga was inspired by Antoine Wendo Kolosoy. He is mostly known for old local music known as ‘karahanyuze’. He studied music at Centre de Formation de Music in Nyamirambo before embarking on a singing career in 1967 at the age of 20.
