Music: Kigali’s new kids on the block

During last weekend’s Tusker Project Fame welcome party at Planet Club, two young ambitious, innovative chaps took centre stage away from the Kings and Queens of the night even if it was just for a while. Moments after Rwanda’s new star Alpha Rwirangira and his comrades-in-fame Christian and Nina Bola made a star-studded entrance, it was then time for the various curtain raising musical acts of the night. For Deo Muhinde Deo and Jean Claude Mulamba, the moment was one they had dreamed of, planned meticulously and prepared adequately for. It was meant to be the moment when they would take their first real step in their much cherished musical career. They opened the show with one of their self-composed ballads, Icyizere, before they did their yet-to-become signature dance in Sinzigera Mpinduka which instantly struck a chord with the crowd of late night revelers. The next day, DJ Lilpac of Radio Flash, just could not stop talking about the umbrella dance during his Sunday afternoon show. Deo, who idolizes Soul and R&B legend Lionel Ritchie and American guitarist, singer and songwriter Jimi Hendrix, then realized that his childhood friend and he might have just hit gold with the dance. “I could not believe it. It was the first time that we had done this dance routine, and we thought it was just part of the spice of the song, not the real event.” Deo chuckles when he remembers that moment. “The response was totally unexpected.” The umbrella dance is their simple, entertaining way of saying that in times of fear and tribulation in life we need not give up, because in every cloud there is a silver lining. “The umbrella is that solution that exists for every problem, just like it shelters you from ordinary rain.” Says Deo. Indeed as the song begins, the pata pata of rain drops could deceive you that rain was planning to spoil the show, but no, it is the song, so no wonder, the two lads pull out their umbrellas to do their complex dance trick, which says a thing or two about their musical creativity. Before their success, their most famous song called Fata Cyane was the first one to put them on an artistic pedestal after it was heavily rotated on all radio stations while the video also earned accolades from various corners while rotating on Rwanda Television. The duos, who were both students in Kicukiro Secondary School, discovered their musical abilities while in school but cemented their lifelong friendship later with the idea to go serious about their musical careers. “I was only thirteen when it hit me that music is something that came naturally to me. For Jean Claude, dancing was like his second name, so our union somehow came together logically.” For the budding duo, the sky is now the limit. “We are passionate about representing Rwanda’s society and culture in an entertaining, informative and original way. We want to fuse our traditional culture and values with a modern twist so that we do not lose our identity in the process.” The budding singer assures. “We would like to use our talent and opportunity to sing and contribute to progress in our country. Am confident that we are going places” As he signs off, he hums his Fata Cyane unconsciously and walks away with the prance of a confident, ambitious yet humble future musical star. Whether dreams become reality, only time will tell. kelviod@yahoo.com