A RAP DUO Sano Boi and A4 recently released an album of rap songs and samples of Gakondo songs from some of the well-known Rwandan artistes, as a way of paying tribute to them but also inspiring and telling relatable stories that others don’t have the courage to tell. Real names Sano Innocent Hitiyise and Alban Ndahiro, the 25-years-olds are two rising rappers that have been in the industry for a long time. The album was inspired by their career journey and Gakondo songs, they wanted to showcase the Rwandan culture even in other countries. “When working on our album we wanted to make sure that people get what we stand for, which is confidence and hustle. We actually mixed some traditional sound or Gakondo music in our songs so that when people from abroad listen to it they feel something unique,” Hitiyise told The New Times. “When the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi happened it didn’t just take our loved ones, it affected certain aspects like culture, music, art, and theatre so we wanted to pay tribute to the artistes that made the first Rwandan sound that was passed on generations to generations. We have fallen in love with the Gakondo music and we are trying to remake the sound but in a popular way, because at the end of the day we want to satisfy our audience, both the young and the old,” Ndahiro added. The album is also meant to inspire young people to love and be close to their culture, according to the music duo. “We have to be proud of our own sound, we love drill, trap, and rap but imagine if you can combine those styles with Gakondo style what we will get,” says Hitiyise. Their experience while creating the album however, was not an easy one, they started working on the album at the beginning when the pandemic hit in 2020. “We started recording the album in April 2020, we went to the studio daily but it was getting a bit harder so we paid for our time so we can have the studio to ourselves. Throughout the journey, we met some struggles like some of our recorded songs being lost at the last minute and not liking the outcome we decided to look for a producer that will take time on our album and give us something we will appreciate more,” Hitiyise explained. “After that, we actually spent a whole week recording in the house without going out, we were free and feeling ourselves, we were with our producer and another friend of ours,” Ndahiro enthusiastically says. On their album they sampled songs like ‘Miyango’, ‘Kamaliza’ and ‘Sebanani’, as part of their 12 songs, including the intro and outro. Some of them are Isi, ‘Never give up’, ‘Kanyabunyobwa’ and ‘24/7’. They wrote all of their songs. Their songs are in Kinyarwanda and English so that everyone can get to enjoy their music without barriers. They worked with producer Jompo Origami who they have worked with since their debut as a duo, Illusionist who helped with sampling the beats and Ayo merci, the director who worked on their two video that are out already. As a duo who started in 2017, they feel that if Rwandans started more appreciating their local artistes and promoting their work would be a step to supporting them. “For example, if an independent artiste goes to the radio for an interview and give out their songs, they play them at that time but as soon as they step out you will never hear their songs again. Rwandans need to give the same support they give to artistes in labels to indepedent artistes too,” says Hitiyise. The duo see themselves filling the Arena in the future and bringing the BET to Rwanda, they are on a journey and still need to push to reach there.
