The following article was suggested by one of our readers—if theres an idea you would like us to cover, please submit it here. R&B AND AFROBEAT singer Bruce Melodie is confident his music could reach new heights and inspire him to great success across Africa under his new management. The singer, born Bruce Itahiwacu, made the pledge after he announced that he reached a contract agreement to do music under the management of Tanzanian record label Cloud9 Entertainment. The move marked the end of the singer’s musical relationship with showbiz entrepreneur Jean de Dieu Kabanda, who has been managing his music projects for the past five years. Lee Ndayisaba, the Managing Director of Cloud9 Entertainment, effectively took over all Bruce Melodie’s music projects as announced in a joint press statement released on Tuesday, February 16. Under Cloud9 Entertainment, Bruce Melodie has his eyes set on taking his career to the next level and enlarge his reach globally, as stated in the statement. While continuing to make great music that his fans have come to enjoy over the years, the singer told The New Times that it is high time that Africa became exposed to Rwanda’s good music. “I believe this is the time for not only my music to conquer Africa and this is all I wish for Rwandan music in general. I have been doing good music which for the past years gained popularity not only in Rwanda but in the region. But I think it is time to think beyond that,” Bruce Melodie said in a telephone interview. “My song “Katerina” becoming a hit in the East African region, especially Kenya, gave me an impression to dream bigger. I gave me hope that my music deserves more and has the potential to reach more countries in Africa and my new management has that capacity to make it happen,” he added. The singer further clarified that changing management was for the benefit of his music and side business of Isibo TV which Kabanda will now be managing. “I realised that my ex-manager was too occupied to handle both my music projects and managing the TV station and I decided to find new management for my music so that he can concentrate on the TV management,” he explained. Regarded among the best that Rwanda has at the moment, Bruce Melodie’s music status has grown to stardom over the years under Kabanda’s management, and his success consistently reached greater heights both musically and financially. However, promoting his music to the international scene and cementing his seat among the best music artists in Africa are some of crucial reasons that made Bruce Melodie change his management to Cloud9 Entertainment whose boss is among the established music business pioneers not only in East Africa but across the continent. “I trust my new management will do their job as agreed and, hopefully, we can achieve great things together,” the singer said. It was under Kabanda that the singer was able to win a number of prizes including Primus Guma Guma Superstar season 8 and Artist of the year prize at Salax Awards 2019, among others. His stellar rise to stardom also saw a number of companies like Brewer Brok Beer and mobile telephone manufacturer Infinix sign him to become their brand ambassador. Cloud9 Entertainment has an uphill task to meet or supersede the singer’s expectations and Ndayisaba said his label decided to sign Bruce Melodie because both parties share the same objectives. “We are both professionals in our own fields. So, obviously, we reached a contract agreement because I think it is beneficial to both of us. I have a lot of experience in the music industry and in different places. So I truly understand my responsibilities as far as I am concerned,” Ndayisaba said in an interview. He added that, under their management, Bruce Melodie is in good hands and that his music has a great future as long as he remains positive that he is doing good music not just for Rwandans or East Africa but for Africans and the world in general. “There is a lot to be done but the essence of this management is not really to do with music itself because Bruce is capable of taking care of his music. There is a lot of work behind the scenes of music and that’s primarily our job to make sure that he doesn’t have to worry about all those things but focus on improving his music,” he said.
