Dancehall singer Rafiki Mazimpaka had been on a music hiatus until his return last year when he released a couple of songs and now is back with an album dubbed ‘Tuyorane’. Rafiki, famously known as the king of Coga Style, is the inventor of dancehall style in Rwanda’s music industry. He started doing music in 1998 and launched his ever first album in September 2008. The singer is considered one of the artistes who paved a way for all Rwandan musicians to day and the whole music industry at large. According to the singer, he named his album ‘Tuyorane’ because he has been missing his fans and they have not been hearing from him lately so, it is about time. Speaking to The New Times ,upon the 11 songs album he released on Friday, Rafiki explained that he has been working on the album for a year and was inspired by the fact that artistes have different platforms to uploadt their songs and have their copyright. “I am working with Brodahood records which is located in Switzerland, Geneva, it is the first album since we started working ontogether and they are now looking into promoting the album, as well as concerts and festivals that they usually make around the world,” says Rafiki. Among the eleven songs, he says three of them have already been released and every 2 to 3 weeks, they will be releasing videos. However the first video of the song ‘Icoco’ is now out and can be found on his YouTube channel. “I want to take this time to thank my fans for their support, their feedback after dropping this album and ask them to keep supporting and streaming the album. My album is on all streaming platforms and on my YouTube channel,” Rafiki said. The singer collaborated on this album with different Rwandan artistes like B-Threy, Dj Marnaud, Ras Ngabo, Mako and Jado. The ‘Igikosi’ hitmaker once shared the same stage with famous international singers like Sean Paul and Shaggy. He also performed at famous international festival dubbed ‘The Afro Caribbean Festival’ back in 2007. Some of the songs he was mostly known for include ‘Igikomando’, ‘’Ica 1,2,3’, ‘Yirekeremo’,’Tukabyine (ft Miss Jojo) and ‘Igitwenge’ among others.
