WHEN HE WAS A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT at École Secondaire Islamique (ESSI), Nyamirambo, commonly known as ‘Kwa Kaddafi’, Jodas Sengabo was a huge fan of R&B music and had dreams of pursuing the genre. The 32-year-old loved the songs by British boy band Westlife and he would, on a number of occasions, mime them at school during leisure time. The band’s music was at the time regarded among people’s favorites on the charts. “That band inspired me to pursue R&B music. The love that people had for The Ben and Meddy at the time was also a big motivation to pursue the genre,” Sengabo said. Sengabo’s voice soon attracted cultural singers who asked him to join their troupes. Among the troupes was Indangamirwa Cultural Troupe, which was exclusively founded by students of AERG-College Saint Andre. After joining the troupe in 2011, he decided to change the direction of his music from R&B to traditional music. Sengabo spent five years with the troupe from which he learned how to compose, write and sing traditionally. In 2016, he felt he had learned enough and decided to pursue a solo career in traditional music. As he grows musically, Sengabo is among the young cultural music artists who followed traditional music taking inspiration from music icon Cecile Kayirebwa who he attributes credit to introducing himself to the traditional music audience. “I was lucky and blessed to grow my music under Kayirebwa’s mentorship. She took my hand, had confidence in me, and gave me a platform to showcase my talent and a chance to take stage at her concerts,” he said. The singer, however, has his eyes set on building a unique identity for his music to avoid growing in the shadow of musicians from the old generation including the likes of Kayirebwa, and Muyango among others. Sengabo’s music most of the time reflects on life experience and love while he also uses his voice to encourage the young generation to embrace Rwanda culture. His brand new song ‘Kalinga’, for instance, calls on the young generation, in the country and abroad, to avoid being carried away by the western culture and instead stick to Rwanda’s cultural values as their identity that makes Rwandans different from other communities. Some verses of the song also serve as a wakeup call for parents to reserve time for their children no matter how work makes them busy. “While we spend most of our time looking for a living we shouldn’t forget that our children need advice from us. There is no point in running after wealth and forget that children need us,” he spoke of the song. To date, the singer has eight songs under his belt. He is also working on another song called ‘Ngire Nte’ which is a collaboration with Kayirebwa. The singer shared that he found home in traditional music but, with the world digitally going fast, the singer is positive he can position himself in the music genre while trying to modernize it so that the younger generation can relate with it. Sengabo was born in Kayonza District, precisely in Buganza, an area located near Lake Muhazi in Eastern Province. His mother died shortly after she gave birth to him. His father raised him single handedly until he married another wife who helped raise him.
