We want to go regional – TBB

Their style and demeanor gives off an allure of a group that is talented and very ambitious to conquer the music industry in Rwanda. TBB is made up of radio presenter MC Tino, Bob and Benja. Together they form TBB, with each letter being an initial of each of their first name. In an interview with The New Times’ Richard Mugarura, MC Tino, the group’s spokesperson talked about their future plans, challenges and how they get along as a group. When did you start your music career as a group? As a group, our music journey started in December 2012. We chose to come together because it is the best way to develop and strengthen our career in the music industry. We have many solo artistes, so we thought that if we combined our talent, we would be able to have an edge over other artistes. When did you record your first song? Our first song was Mbilaba featuring Jody and it was produced by Pastor P at Narrow Road Records. It was a great song that put us in the limelight and, from then on, we have tried to grow and here we are now. How many musicians have you worked with so far? We have worked with several local artistes. So far, we have worked with artistes like Davy Ranks, Riderman, Jay Polly and Jody. We also intend to work with other musicians including international artistes. It is part of our strategy to gain international recognition. What inspired you to do music? In life everyone has their own calling and ours is music. Although we have other things we do on the side, music comes naturally to us. It’s also a way of giving back to society which has supported us in our journey. Our main goal is to give our fans quality music and great performances. Which famous musicians and music styles do you admire? We like different styles; for example, my favourite musician is Busy Signal, but for Bob and Benja, they have no favourite artiste (s) they look up to. They mainly focus on seeing TBB produce the best quality music in Rwanda. How many songs have you released and how many concerts have you performed at? We have released over 13 songs and we have seven videos to our name. We have performed at different concerts across the country. We have also performed alongside regional stars like Uganda’s Juliana Kanyomozi, Chameleon, Bebe Cool and Burundia’s Kidumu. What challenges do you face as musicians? We find it hard to finance our own projects because we manage ourselves. Having to do other jobs to raise some money and at the same concentrate on singing is a hustle. But we shall continue to work hard in order to reach our goals. Apart from concerts, do you perform at other public events? We are always invited on several events to perform and we always make sure we give our best and let the crowd do the judging. But the fact that we still get invited to perform at other events tells us that there’s something we are doing right. How do you handle mistakes during performance on stage? Mistakes are normal because we are all human and anything can happen. Usually when the show is over, we always take stock of our performance and devise appropriate measures whenever necessary. Do you get nervous before a performance or a competition? No, we don’t get nervous before or during performances because we have done this before and we always strive to do the best we can. And I think we are among artistes in Rwanda who usually put up energetic performances. How often do you conduct rehearsals? We always do practice thrice a week just to keep our vocals in check. How do you balance music with other obligations like work and family? It’s very easy for us because we do one thing at a time. We have studio time, promotional time and practice time. We make an effort to follow our schedules. What are your next plans? We are planning to record songs with international artistes as well as organise concerts in the region, mainly in Kampala and Bujumbura. If we are able to, then we shall put Kenya on the list as well. What advice would you give to upcoming artistes? Love what you do and give it your best. Everything else will fall into place.

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We want to go regional – TBB