Eighteen-year old, Gakuba shares his new musical style

The 18-year-old has since released a number of songs including ‘Terrified’, ‘Lately’, and ‘Toxic’, all on SoundCloud. He recently had a chat with Sunday Magazine’s Sharon Kantengwa on his plans for his music career. What is the most exciting aspect about music and what disappoints you the most? Ryan Gakuba. I guess for me, the most exciting thing about music is how, we as artistes, get to share our content and sometimes help people that needed to hear what we are putting out there or just make someone’s day. The most disappointing part is that making music is not always taken seriously unless you’re on MTV or making millions. What do you seek to communicate in your songs? I don’t know yet. I just say anything that comes to mind in my songs, which by the way, sometimes bothers people. But then I guess it’s what people do not want to hear, that they get to hear in my songs. My track ‘Terrified’ was more of an attempt to solve an inward puzzle, while “Lately” communicates an intense expression of heart-break. I basically just put my personal life out there and it’s up to the listeners to figure out what my content means to them. Who were the first influences on your music and style? There are lots of artistes that have influenced me, but I’d say my biggest influences are Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Kid Cudi and Twenty one pilots. Do you think your music is mostly enjoyed more for the beats or for the lyrical flow and content?I think that all three of them are very important in my music. I usually get feedback for all three of them. I don’t make my beats but do write all my lyrics and so I would say the flow and the content. Between the flow and lyrics, which one do you put first? Both are important to me as far as the originality of a track is concerned. I particularly, begin singing with a picture in mind, with the lyrics painting that picture. At the same time, put an emphasis on flow, with appealing beats. So generally, while I’m staying true to certain “flows” and “patterns” I have the lyrics and story that I want to get across in mind as well. Which emotion mostly dominates your music and why? Mostly melancholy. That’s because it’s what I like to hear in music, it’s my personal style and I feel like it’s missing in today’s music. Tell us what projects and ideas you have on store or are already working on. I’m currently working on an extended play record although I’m currently just gathering ideas, so I don’t have a release date or anything like that. I just know that it’ll be doing something we don’t really see in music nowadays especially here in Rwanda. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

Lifestyle

Eighteen-year old, Gakuba shares his new musical style