The founder of The Mane record label, Ramadhan Mupenda, known as Bad Rama, claims his recording label, The Mane Records, is still alive and kicking despite the exodus of artistes it previously managed. The record label, which was launched in 2017 with a promise of rivalling Diamond Platnumz’ WCB, is said to be as good as defunct, after the departure of the artistes who made it popular and the music manager who ran its affairs. The exodus started with the former Urban Boys’ frontman Safi ‘Madiba’ Niyibikora in September 2019, followed by rapper Jay Polly in December the same year, followed by ‘Do me’ songstresses Queen Cha and Marina. The duo left with the music manager Aristide Gahunzire, who Bad Rama seems to accuse of being behind the recent developments. Some sources suggest that Gahunzire could be starting his own music house soon to manage artistes. With the recent departure of the trio, The Mane is left with Calvin Mbanda and with Bad Rama himself reportedly relocating to the U.S, some showbiz analysts concluded that it could be over for the nearly five-year-old label that took the music industry by storm. Mbanda has no contract tying him down. Bad Rama, however, insists that The Mane has not gone anywhere because a recording label is not about individuals but it is a business he compared with a ‘nursery bed’ where artistes are grown like seedlings and can go whenever they wish. Bad Rama. In a press conference on May 1 hosted by U.S-based media personality Ally Soudy, Bad Rama maintained that The Mane is a registered business that still has a lot to do and cannot depend on whether artistes stay or go. “A record label is like a nursery bed where seeds are planted and they germinate and grow, more like a team that nurtures and grows players. It is not about the number of albums or something. There is a lot that goes into the music business,” “Being in the U.S shouldn’t be an issue too because today you can run a business from wherever you are. I don’t have to sit in Rwanda for one to believe that The Mane is still operational,” Bad Rama said. He pointed out that over the past five years he invested heavily in the music industry and helped improve it, setting up audio-visual recording facilities which he says took the Rwandan music industry to the next level. “Over the past five years, we have done a lot. I started with one artist, Marina, before Safi Madiba, who had just left Urban Boys joined. We put in a lot of work to develop these artistes,” “In 2019, Queen Cha won the Salax Award and in 2021 Marina won an award too. We have organised various concerts. Our work speaks for itself,” the music investor said. He said that he has nothing personal with all the artistes that left except Marina, who he said had an active 10-year contract running. He hinted on some legal issues between himself and the ‘Ni wowe’ singer but did not reveal more. “I was shocked by Marina because she still had a contract,” Bad Rama said, pointing out that there was still a lot in the pipeline. Betrayal In the lengthy interview, Bad Rama seemed to suggest that there were some individuals who worked behind his back to ensure the collapse of the label, indirectly suggesting Gahunzire was one of them but said that soon he will reveal more details. He said that there was a lot of scheming and betrayal by people he trusted and considered friends, claiming that he should have been careful. “The truth will come to light soon,” Bad Rama said, partly blaming the media for fanning the fire in his troubled label. He likened what he is going through to the situation of the Charly na Nina duo who he said were misled into parting ways with their manager Alex Muyoboke in 2018 but today their music career fizzled out. “Where is Charly and Nina now? All of this was a result of betrayal by the media, DJs and other players in the industry who work day in day out to mislead others into making decisions which put careers on the line,” he said. Bad Rama was asked about a number of issues, including the alleged affair with Marina but he denied ever being in a relationship with the singer. “If we were in a relationship, at least I would have made sure that she got pregnant with my child,” Bad Rama awkwardly said. It was also said that Marina left because Bad Rama said that singer Knowless Butera was better than her in previous audio that was leaked in March. Bad Rama said that he would repeat the same in the context he said what he said. While weighing in on the debate as to whether Bruce Melodie was better than The Ben and Meddy, Bad Rama said that going by experience, the ‘Bado’ singer is still a notch behind the U.S-based singer. He gave an example that Marina, though good and modern, cannot claim to be better than Knowless, simply because she is more experienced than her and has achieved a lot over the years than Marina. “I can repeat the same in the context I said it. It doesn’t mean that Marina is not good but she still has to work harder to be where Knowless is or achieve what she achieved,” Bad Rama said. On whether he tried out many things at the same time, leading to the failure of some of his projects, including the film industry, Bad Rama said that he thinks through most of his projects and believes he can do many things at the same time. He said his movie project remains on track. He has also appointed his young brother Eric Safi, to manage The Mane Affairs. Following his revelations, Gahunzire spoke out, denying that he betrayed Bad Rama, in an interview with Lucky Nzeyimana on his Youtube channel. Similarly, Denis Rwema, a former music manager at The Mane also reacted, blaming Bad Rama for the collapse of the record label because he sought to be more famous than the artistes he managed.
