Poet Junior Rumaga is now free to drop his next poem “Intango y’Ubumwe” which features late musician Yvan Buravan after getting the ‘go ahead’ from the singer’s family. Shortly after Buravan’s ‘Twaje’ was named the Best Summer Best Album at Sunday’s Kiss Summer Awards 2022, the singer’s brother Martial Batangana said they are looking to start releasing the songs that he left in studio, starting with Rumaga’s to-be-released poem which features Buravan. Martial told The New Times the family has been working closely with the poet to produce quality visuals for the poem before giving him a go ahead to release it. “Intango y’Ubumwe” is part of Rumaga’s 20-poem tracklist dubbed ‘Mawe’ that he released on July 8. Bulldog and Mr Kagame are two other artists who feature on the same poem. The poet has been dropping the poems on the album one-by-one with the poem being the latest release on the poet’s tracklist. However, the sudden death of Buravan in July means Rumaga won’t be able to relive the memories they shared in studio while composing and recording the poem together when he releases its video next week. “I wish he was present to celebrate the work we did on the poem together when it is released next week. Obviously the feeling won’t be the same when I drop it without him but I have to do it because it doesn't give us a choice in such situations,” the poet told The New Times. Rumaga hailed the family of the deceased singer for their relentless contribution to the shooting process of the video until it became a final product for the audience to watch. “I had been in touch with his [Buravan’s] family since I started shooting the video of the poem. They really helped me a lot in terms of sharing ideas on the video and resources needed to work on the video,” he said. The fast-rising poet was too hesitant to share more details on what the poem is about but he is confident people will like it given the creativity it is made with. “Just wait for its release. I am sure people will be excited,” he said. Meanwhile, Batangana said he and the family in general were impressed by the poem given that Buravan’s part draws inspiration from personality as a musician and a person. “Intango y’Ubumwe” and all of Rumaga’s poems are available on the poet’s online platform www.sigarwanda.com, a new online platform he created to bring all poems together for people to easily access poems while also creating a platform for rising poets to showcase their works digitally.
