Have you ever listened to a song and wondered who wrote it? Some songs flow so beautifully that they make us think about the person behind the lyrics. To kill the curiosity here, Weekender, in no particular order, looks at 5 Rwandan composers who have written songs that have gone on to become hits. Mike Kayihura The 28-year-old artiste is regarded as one of the best songwriters that the music industry has in its ranks. He started writing songs at the age of 16 while in a church choir. He was the choir’s songwriter. Since he launched his music career, he writes all his songs, including ‘Jaribu’ and ‘Anytime’, which went on to become popular. Kayihura’s lyricism attracted the attention of top artistes like Bruce Melodie, and they worked together with the song ‘Katerina’. “I really recognise Mike’s talent as a great one that will grow bigger in coming years, I witnessed that because I have worked with him on most of my songs,” Melodie says. Confy The fast-rising artiste started writing in 2016 when he was still in high school as a hobby after class. To him, song writing is a way of expressing himself. Born Confiance Munyaneza, the singer so far has various songs of his own that he wrote including ‘Pole’, ‘Jowana’ and his latest release ‘Panga’ which is now dominating local top charts. The 22-year-old artiste’s song writing has been hailed by a big number of local artistes, including Mike Kayihura. “I am a big fan of Confy, I like the simplicity in his songs and the way he writes, he is easy-going and when I listen to his music, I am personally amazed,” says Kayihura. Israel Mbonyi Mbonyi won the hearts of many when he started music in 2014. From his very first song ‘Number One’ to his latest release ‘Baho’, the singer’s music has made him one of Rwanda’s favourites due to his song writing skills, as emphasised by female cultural musician Clarisse Karasira. “Israel’s lyrics have the qualities of good song writing. The way his work is structured and the way his words flow with his style, the melody and his voice top it all. I really admire him as a talented songwriter,” says Karasira. Kivumbi King Kivumbi started writing songs in 2016 and being a poet has always made his song writing job easy and smooth. The 22-year-old has produced many songs which have attracted the attention of many in the music industry. He had a hand in writing songs from different artistes but prefers to keep their names confidential. Danny Vumbi He is one of the most experienced artistes. Vumbi has been writing songs since 2002 when he joined a music band in KIE. In 2004, he founded a group called ‘The Brothers’ alongside Victor Fidele Gatsinzi. Since then, his career has grown from time to time and his song writing talent has been instrumental to his success as a musician, especially when he released his song ‘Ni Danger’ in 2014. Vumbi is ranked among the best songwriters in Rwanda given the number of local artistes’ songs that he wrote that went on to become hits. “Danny is very talented, he is among the artistes I have worked with on many songs and I have always been amazed by his talent,” says producer Clement Ishimwe.
