Solange Nishimwe, also known as sol solange, is a rising artist who has learnt the art of combining poetry and music to change lives. The 22-year-old discovered her talent in arts during her teenage years and has not looked back since. “Through poetry and music, I console lonely hearts, spread love, and speak for those who are afraid, or not able to do so. Poetry gives me life and music makes me happy,” she said. She believes that music goes hand in hand with poetry and that a good song is a well-written poem. She writes what she experiences and believes that it’s what makes her art touch people’s hearts. Solange started writing poetry in 2017 when she was in Senior six, mainly due to the love she had for books. When she read Shakespeares sonnets, especially On Monsieurs Departure, a poem that was written in the form of meditation regarding the failure of Queen Elizabeth Is marriage, her mind was transformed and she believed that she could touch souls through poetry. “It was a nice poem. I read it after spending some days learning about Englands history and its empire. This story featuring the queen as an independent woman with knowledge about both science and art, triggered me to try and come up with my lines,” she added. She revealed that her love for poetry was boosted through reading and composing poems. She is a self-taught poetess who joined Writers Space Africa – Rwanda (WSA-R) in 2020 where she enhanced her skills through the different poetry sessions it offers. Her talent in music was discovered when she was 15 after being habitually pushed by her friend who finally persuaded her that she could raise her voice in public and sing. “That particular day, I was shy but I managed to sing in front of the students and the mistress. They congratulated me for a fantastic performance and from then on, my dad taught me how to sing and play some guitar chords. He made me love music more,” said Solange. Her inspiration, she added, is drawn from everything that surrounds her. For her, every story is a better start to thinking of what is behind. When asked about her view about poetry and the music industry in Rwanda, she mentioned that poetry is still at a low level unlike music. “Nowadays, the poetry industry is being developed by a lot of poets who are keen to uplift it. If it is used together with music, it could be the best combination. Music provides a reasonable environment for understanding and poetry creates amusing rhythm through words,” she said. Solange has performed in different events including Spoken Word Rwanda, Reading for Change, and in different high schools like Agahozo Shalom and Ste Bernadette before Covid-19. On the side of music, she has performed at different Catholic concerts like St Paul, BUUIA, Versus of RBA and she hosts a live show on her Instagram page (sol____solange) every Friday at 8 p.m. Her favourite poets are Malaika Uwamahoro and Prince Ea and her favorite singers are Sia and Maitre Gims. Some of her popular poems include “He, I dreamed of” and “Like a moon and like a sun” while her songs include Mbwira and other covers that can be found on her Youtube Channel — sol solange. The challenges she faces in art industry include lack of support since there are no investors in the poetry industry which slows it down, while media on the other hand is not doing enough to engage in poetry as it does with music. Nevertheless, she is planning to release a music album by the end of this year and a poetry collection in the coming days. For more information, you can find her on social media: Instagram: @sol____solange Twitter: @SolNishimwe Fb: Solange NISHIMWE Blog: Sol Solange
