25-YEAR-OLD Gentil Rukundo, also known by his stage name, Gentil Rkd is a gospel rapper who switched from secular to gospel music. His music journey started in 2010, at a time when he was more focused on secular music, as part of a group of local hip-hop artistes known as ThugLife. One in night, in 2012, as the year was elapsing, Rukundo attended overnight prayers in church where he had an encounter with God and pledged to use all his talents to worship and praise Him. The night marked his turning point for his music career. Today, his goal, according to him, is to use music to reflect God, break walls, and reconcile others with Him. The self-taught rapper and the only singer in his family, recalls just writing verses and finding melodies for them later at the start of his music career. The more he practiced, the better he got at his craft, so much so, that at this point, he and music are inseparable. Last year, he released his single dubbed, “Ikiganiro”, which loosely means a conversation, although he has been part of several collaborations. Rukundo is also part of a musical group known as “One Voice Rwanda” which, according to him has a vision to release songs that are impactful to society. So far, the group comprised of both rappers and singers has released songs namely; “Wowe”, “Umurage” among others. He also sings in another group, ‘Streetlights’ which he joined in 2015, and they have so far released several songs like, “Urubyiruko rwa Kristo”, “Halleluyah”. The gospel vocalist looks up to renowned American Christian hip hop recording artist, songwriter, and music executive, Lecrae Devaughn Moore, for his exceptional talent and zeal he has for ministering to God and the deep message behind his songs. For Rukundo, gospel music is one of the things that played a key part in helping him “stay on the right path and not fall apart.” Although he accepted Christ as His Lord and Savior in 2010, he said, he started having a personal relationship with God at the end of 2019. “In these years I have known God, I made a promise to Him to use my talents to bring the gospel to people, and I am fulfilling this promise. I keep pushing as I let God guide me,” he says. He writes songs basing on meditation, people’s experiences, and ideas proposed by his singing groups. With challenges of recording songs. Rukundo said he put his solo music on hold, until he gets a job that can sustain it. Once he gets the job and saves up, he hopes to release his first album which he has 10 written songs for so far.
