After completing high school in 2013, rising Dancehall singer Don Big Bang sought work in a city restaurant, making pastries and pizza. In 2015, Big Bang, whose given name is Uwizeye Bishanya Aristide, recorded and released his first song titled Selfie. The 25 year old reveals that he had been singing “ever since, because I was born with a musical spirit”. While in primary school, he would entertain his schoolmates through song whenever an opportunity arose. During his stint working at a city restaurant in 2014, a friend told him something that emboldened Big Bang to pursue a career in music. “He told me, if you want to buy a house in Kigali or drive your own car, you won’t do it by selling pizza, but you got the talent to do music and succeed. He eventually heeded the friend’s advice, and two years later, left everything else to embark on music. “2016 is the time I realized I have to put in the work and make music a career,” he revealed. While in high school, he had been somewhat drawn to Jamaican dancehall music, drawing inspiration from such names as Sean Paul and Shaggy. That was the beginning of his love affair with the musical genre that is dancehall. However, he did not start out as a dancehall artist in the strict sense of the word. “Dancehall was not popular in Rwanda at that time. I liked the reggaeton sound from Latin America, particularly Daddy Yankee. Reggaeton was conquering Africa at that time, and I liked the beats. I used to flow on those beats at school from Senior 2, and by Senior 4 I had decided to do dancehall.” Locally, he listened to people like Rafiki, who was curving out a new style he called Coga, a kind of fusion between dancehall music and Afro beat. This gave him more confidence to pursue a musical genre he believes has been largely sidelined in the country. But what is dancehall music? Big Bang bemoans what he calls negative perceptions that are held towards this genre of music in Rwanda. “When you tell people you’re a dancehall artiste they think about a club, because most of the clubs in Kigali play only dancehall and afro beat music. They don’t play R&B and other styles. People think that when you’re a dancehall artiste you are going to burn up the club, to sing about girls and booty, but dancehall is not about that. For me, dancehall is a way to pass on messages to people and inspire youths. I don’t see it as a violent way or a way to sing about women’s body parts,” he explained. “I like to sing about the struggles of the youth, how someone can rise from the bottom to the top, because personally, my background is less privileged. That is why I like to call myself a youth from far, voice from the ghetto. I see every day as an elevation because right now I lead a better life compared to back in the day.” Big Bang was born on April 25 1994, during one of the most difficult phases in the country’s history. He is the perfect example of the country’s ‘Generation 25’, a term used loosely to refer to the people born during, or right after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. “I am a youth who survived genocide. I wasn’t born in a well off family. That is why I want to inspire the youth because in this life many of them are hopeless. I want to give them hope that they can make it in life from nothing. Personally my dream is to do music internationally. When you say international music it is international message, a message which can fit the international market.” He has a handful of songs to his name, five of which have video clips to them. Some of his most popular songs include; Selfie, Chilling day, Live my life, Fancy ft Emprah Jahboy, Fighter, and Envy ft Emprah Jahboy. His stage moniker, Big Bang is derived from the big bang theory of creation of the earth: “I came up with it while in Senior Four. In Geography we had learnt about big bang theory, about how the universe was formed. I realized this industry of Rwanda needs something new because it was only R&B, hip hop and Afro beat trending in the country. I had to come up with something different.” This year, he intends to release his first EP collection, and is also working on staging a one-man show before the end of the year. “I want to break out as a dancehall artiste this year. I believe I now have enough energy and people supporting me. I have also been building my musical connections in Jamaica, Germany, and Seychelles with dancehall artistes there who appreciate my music.” He has one last appeal to the local media and music industry: “Our media don’t want to listen to new names. They look for the big names that have been around for ten years. That’s one of the reasons why dancehall is not improving. What I can say is that I’m going to put in the work, and the work will speak for itself. The media has to accept that a new generation has come in, and support us.” editorial@newtimesrwanda.com
