With the changing times, Rwandan artistes are utilising their creativity for the satisfaction of music fans around the world.It is with no doubt that Rwandan music, which is highly dominated by Afrobeats, RNB and Hip Hop among other genres, is making the world listen, given that home grown artistes are staging back to back in the western world, especially major cities of Europe.The latest among them is Rwandan gospel star Israel Mbonyi, who had a sold out one-man concert in Brussels, Belgium, on June 11, a few days after Christopher delivered an energetic performance in Lyon, France, where he shot his recently released track ‘Pasadena’.ALSO READ: PHOTOS: Israel Mbonyi lights up BrusselsIt’s not just big artistes staging in Europe, but young singers including the likes of Bushali, Kenny Sol, Bwiza, Kivumbi King, DJ Toxxyk, DJ Pyfo, among many others, have also had one or two shows on the continent.ALSO READ: Kivumbi King thrills fans in Warsaw, PoznanALSO READ: Juno Kizigenza announces Europe tourOne may wonder why Europe is becoming the next big market for Rwandan music.A growing listener baseAccording to DJ Pyfo, one of the youngest disc jockeys of Rwanda who was invited last year to perform at the Afro Festival in Germany, there is an increase in consumption of Rwandan music in Europe caused by a large number of the Rwandan diaspora on the continent.“Rwandans are all across the planet, as well,” says Pyfo, “Everywhere you go, they are there, and Rwandans are very loud and proud of where they come from. They support their own.”The DJ, who is popularly known for his summer 2021 smash hit ‘Kantona’, also believes that the Schengen visa is another factor helping Rwandan musicians to travel in different European countries freely.“Apart from the UK, everyone with a Schengen visa can access other European countries which are different to other continents. This facilitates us musicians to tour Europe easily, and also help promoters from different countries to work together,” Pyfo says.For Justin Karekezi, event promoter who was behind Mbonyi’s recent show in Belgium, Rwandan musicians are producing hit songs that are winning the hearts of many music lovers across the globe, including other nationalities.For example, Karekezi explained, a lot of great artistes from Nigeria have been performing in Belgium, but Israel Mbonyi’s recent concert was the first event to sell out tickets before the actual day of the event.“This shows how much Rwandan music is loved here,” Karekezi said after Mbonyi’s concert that attracted thousands of revelers.Alex Muyoboke, another top player in Rwanda’s music industry who helped many local artistes perform in Europe, credits the Rwandan diaspora in Europe for the love home-grown artistes are receiving on the continent.He said that Rwandan music is where it is because of different individuals pushing it to places and among them are students and other individuals residing in different parts of the world especially Europe.“Rwandans are loving their own musicians day by day and this is making others vibe to our music as well,” Muyoboke said, urging more Rwandans in the diaspora to act as ambassadors of Rwandan music.More inclusive soundsFor Miguel Kami, a student based in Poznan, Poland, Rwandan musicians are jumping on different genres of music, a move attracting listeners from across the world to add Rwandan songs to their playlists.This, he said, can be seen from Rwandan artistes that are featuring singers from different cultures who produce different musical genres, from Bongo Flava and Kompa, to UK Drill, Nigeria’s Afrobeats and Trap among many others.“Over the past years, Rwandan musicians have been producing sounds from different cultures and it’s attracting listeners from all corners of the world who don’t even know where the country is located. When you play Rwandan songs in parties here, many people vibe to them, and it’s not the case with most countries,” Kami said.Another thing, Kami noted, Rwandans have understood the meaning of supporting each other which is also pushing talents to greater heights.“I personally took a plane last weekend to attend Mbonyi’s concert in Brussels and it was worth it. I have never been to a concert like that in Europe and it happened to be one of our artistes,” Kami added.Richness of Rwandan traditional music (Gakondo)Just like the way Kwaito of the early 90s earned its way back in the streets of Soweto after producers gave it log drum-driven bassline paired with the jazzy soulful sound and resulted to the trending Amapiano genre, there are signs that Rwandan musicians can also merge traditional sounds with modernized music genres and take Rwandan music to greater heights.ALSO READ: Why ‘Gakondo’ might be the future of Rwandan musicThis is proof after a number of musicians producing traditional music popularly known as Gakondo in Rwanda, started exporting the genre to places including Europe, the next biggest market of Gakondo music after Rwanda where it’s produced.The likes of Jules Sentore, Intore Masaamba, Teta Diana and many others who produce Gakondo, are not new names in Europe especially Brussels, Belgium, the city that hosts ‘Ibitaramo’ ( Rwandan cultural gatherings) almost every month.The latest Gakondo artistes to perform in Europe are Angel and Pamella, the duo that has made a name for themselves in traditional music.After their show that took place in Paris, France on June 10, the duo revealed how Rwandan culture is well represented on the continent.I didn't know that people enjoy traditional music to the extent that I have seen. Another special thing is to sing for foreigners and others from countries that don't speak Kinyarwanda, and you see them enjoying it. It touched our hearts very much, said Angel.Apart from Europe, even other places have started showing interest in Rwandan music which has been experiencing a huge boost since 2020.Rwandan star Platini P is gearing up for a tour in Canada, which will be his first performance in North America, just a few months after Nel Ngabo concluded a successful tour in the same country.More Rwandan artistes are performing in other parts of the world and it’s safe to say that Rwandan music is soon becoming one of the next biggest things in music globally.
