NEL NGABO is living his dream music career under the management of Kina Music, a record label masterminded by music entrepreneur Clement Ishimwe. The likes of prominent musicians Tom Close, Dream Boys and Clement’s wife Knowless Butera enjoyed successful careers under the record label winning the prestigious Primus Guma Guma Superstar. Nel Ngabo is one of new music products, alongside Igor Mabano, finding a niche in music and showing signs of flourishing under Kina Music management given a series of successful moments that he is living in just three years since he joined the record label. The music prodigy is, for instance, fresh from a music tour from Canada where he performed for the Rwandan diaspora community in Montreal and Ottawa, the two concerts during which he staged most of popular songs from his two albums that he has so far recorded Kina Music, a label he dreamed working with since 2013 when he was a secondary school student. “I remember that I texted Clement via Facebook in 2013 asking him to help me with music. But the funny thing is that he found my message this year...I had even forgotten it. But see I am working with him, looks like he responded even before he saw the message,” jokes the singer. An album, with another in the pipeline, plus a successful music tour out of the country is a package that very few local artists can achieve just two after they launch their career in music, just like Nel Ngabo did. He said Kina Music’s management has shaped his career and helped him grow into a musician he always wanted to be even if he still wants to achieve more with his management. “When I joined Kina Music, the first thing I learned was writing my own songs. I wrote ugly lyrics but Clement helped me a lot in changing my writing style. I can now write good lyrics with good content,” he said. Just months after joining Kina Music, Nel Ngabo told The New Times that his journey into the industry was not a smooth ride until he joined the label that made him the musician he is now. At 25, he has become a musician that Producer Clement has always wanted to see him taking the mantle from his predecessors at the record label like Tom Close and Knowless Butera. The producer describes the singer’s music journey as ‘fast’, ‘constant’ and ‘successful’. He has become his admirer to the extent that he sees him as one ‘going to become the leading male artist in the near future’. “We are glad that we met and exceeded our expectations. He is one of the few artists, if not the only one with a huge number of hits in such a short period (3 years) we’ve worked together,” Clement told The New Times. Working around the clock Nel Ngabo isn’t planning to take a break after almost a month performing for his music supporters in Canada. The singer is now eager to drop more songs to keep no room for his audience to be bored. After ‘Kigali,’ which he released last month while still on a music tour. Another new single ‘DJ’ could also drop anytime from now. The hunger for success is pushing the singer to take no rest as he is now working on his third album which he plans to release early next year. The singer now has two albums, ‘Ingabo’ and ‘RNB 360’, which comprise songs that became hits such as ‘Solo’, ‘Muzadukumbura’ (ft Fireman), ‘Nzahinduka’, ‘Agacupa’ that have been dominating the charts on various radio and TV stations.
