Solomon Nsengiyumva, 27, also known by his artist name as Jumper Keellu, has found his niche in making Electronic Dance Music (EDM) and is motivated to keep gaining international recognition. Jumper likes to wear ‘jumpers and a black mask with a white logo, which he says is his brand. He started wearing a mask in 2017 and shared why. “Coronavirus killed my brand because other people are also wearing masks even though it’s not like mine. Before the pandemic, they saw me as someone strange who wore a mask,” he said. Jumper loved making beats since he was four years old where he used to beat jerry cans and record cassettes with other boys in the neighbourhood. In 2014 when he was in Senior 4, he came across FL Studio, software for music production and started learning it by watching different tutorials on YouTube as well as applying them. At the time, he was also a rapper. He would make beats and flow with them. He shares that what lured him to become a producer was that other producers used to undermine him. “They were liars. They would tell me to come to the studio and when I went there, I couldn’t see any of them. I decided to learn more about production by myself by playing with FL Studio effects and applying my creativity to make beats so that I could make my own songs,” he said. “I ended up loving EDM and because my brothers would tell me that it was a trending music genre, I continued to make it.” In 2017, he released his first EDM track called “Celebration” and in 2018 when he met a former classmate and singer called Ariel Ngabo, they made another song, “Right Now” and uploaded it on YouTube as copyright free. He said that it became popular to the extent at least 13 people were using it in their videos daily. On September 26, 2019, Jumper released his debut album called “Meaningless” with ten tracks. The song can be found on Spotify and the top song, “Right Now” has 10 thousand plays. Moreover, his Spotify account has 42,000 followers and is among the top five in Rwanda. After releasing the album, Jumper started connecting with other artists and producers like Someone Else from India, Th3 darp from Portugal and COaL BLAaK. They made a track called “Above” which is becoming huge worldwide. In 2021, he released another track with Someone Else and Nmst called “Do go away”. He shares that he loves EDM because it liberates the maker and encompasses many genres one can pursue although he mostly considers what’s trending. His notable local songs include “The Boy from Mars” featuring Ariel Ways, “Needed You” featuring Aline Sano, “I Miss You” featuring Symphony and Grateful with Rita Ange Kagaju. Talking about the status of EDM in Rwanda, he said that it is growing and that many producers are learning it. Through music, Jumper has gained different connections which he believes will benefit him financially in the near future. Tackling his challenges, he said that most people don’t understand EDM and some don’t even know about it. “Also, getting someone who can flow with an EDM song that is needed on an international level is hard. I look for those with both good English pronunciation and vocal talent,” he said. Jumper plans to work harder and strive to become one of the best EDM DJs in the world as well as put Rwanda on the map.
