B-EN will be there

Musician Beyonce is now Sasha Fierce, there was a Puff Daddy and now we have P.Diddy, so you can see how hard these famous entertainers have found it to create a formidable stage name. Our own Ben Mugisha is simply called B-en. He did not want to completely distance him self from his Christian name. At 20 years, he’s already a household name, thanks to ‘Amaso Kumaso’ the very first of his songs mid this year. You need a lot of courage to step out and be at the centre of things at such an age. But courage has always been B-en’s weapon. He once loaded a good number of kids in his father’s truck, and off they went to the city. Luckily enough the truck was blocked by a hill of sand and stopped. With such courage early in life, one only wonders if there is anything to stop him this time as he moves up in his music career. He says his career choice as a musician is not accidental. He is from a family of musicians and Tomclose, arguably the best musician in Rwanda is his brother. He says the sky is the limit for him as a musician. “Tomclose is my brother and my brother in music. I wish we get to make a group just like the P-Square” he confides. Apart from his brother, he is an admirer of Uganda Music sensation Moses Kirya and South African singer Tony B. Despite the music craze in the family, B-en has been singing for considerably a long time. Whenever he missed service, the church choir ‘would not live up to expectations.” A devout Christian, he says, “I thank God for helping me become who I am today. Many others would love to be where I am, but He chose me. I continue to pray to Him for guidance and support,” he says of the All Mighty. B-en will be joining the National University of Rwanda (NUR) next year but wants to stay in music even after he has attained an education. He says he dreams of sharing the same stage with RnB singer Chris Brown. However much B-en has risen due to his personal talent and hard work, he attributes his success to his manager Alex Muyoboke. “He trusted I could make it from day one and his constant encouragement kept me on track. And there are many other young musicians he is taking up.” And for all you fans out there, brace yourselves because next Valentines day is the launch of his first album entitled at Jali Club. With such bright prospects, you expect some one special in his life, but however there is no one. “There is no one, and I don’t need one. I just realized that having a girl friend in this ‘game’ is not good. They make things hard at times and that is when you lose focus of what you were supposed to do” he explains. Apart from music, B-en is an accomplished footballer. Actually football earned him a bursary while at Groupe scholaire de Gahini, where he finished his secondary school education. He is an ardent fan of APR and Manchester United football clubs locally and internationally respectively. Ends