The singing duo of Ben Serugo and Chance Mbanza are arguably some of the most admired gospel artists on the scene. The team’s composition skills make them stand out as the brains behind some of the biggest songs by gospel bands, Alarm Ministries and Joyous Melody, after their own.
“I once talked to a person asking her why she had not attended an online service, and she told me that she was busy watching a movie, then I realized people nowadays are spending their time on screens,” recalls Mbanza.
This was at the beginning of last year and it was then that the couple resolved to impact society through their drama series, Ibihe Series, and what better time than the Covid-19 lockdown that occurred in early 2020.
The drama series, the couple said, coincided with their concerns over the divorce escalation in the country, hence a wake-up call to take action.
“Divorce is another ‘pandemic’ that very many people do not realize has already spread. We want to see people living harmoniously because if families are torn apart, it affects all aspects of life, including the society and the country at large,” commented Serugo.
“That is how we came up with an educational series on our YouTube platform to address the conflicts that arise in nowadays families leading to divorce,” he added before Mbanza chipped in;
“We couldn’t only use songs to reach all masses of people because some people do not enjoy gospel songs, but most of them are on social media platforms. So we used a movie to attract them and deliver a message throughout.”
Ibihe series started streaming online during the lockdown but is among the most-watched local YouTube movies because of how it tackles family issues and challenges affecting Christians today.
The Amarira hitmakers expect their film to unite torn apart families, decrease cases of violence, and restore people’s lives. The couple also urged everyone to use their talents to help restore families that are torn apart in Rwanda and play their role in contributing to society’s development.
RataJah Naychah, real name Columbus Nduwayo, is a gospel singer, music composer, and instrumentalist who had a horrendous upbringing after he lost both his parents to cancer when he was just. His background, however, did not stop him from evangelizing using his passion; instead, it created a clearer goal for his ministry.
He started his music career in 1998 after getting saved, and is currently, a worship team leader, music composer and an experienced drum player. A businessman on the other side of life advanced, RataJah’s career as a member of Justified Band that featured famous music stars like The Ben and Lick Lick, among others, but started his solo career in 2010.
After becoming a born-again Christian, he realized a problem in church services. The majority of the youth were not enjoying the music played at church services and he wanted to change this so they could enjoy coming to church.
“I wanted to create a divine environment for the youth in the church. Why are young people lost in church? Because of the old genres that they cannot relate with. That is why I try to infuse genres, to make them feel like they belong and comfortable in churches,” he explained.
The Hindura hitmaker quoted Bible verses explaining that whether you are a Greek or Jew, circumcised or not, Jesus is for everybody.
“Jesus cannot praise himself. What pleases him is seeing people doing that in every area of life, and not just in one genre. God loves diversity, so we should endeavor to worship him in different ways genres,” the 30-year-old added.
That is how he came up, as an artist, with different genres, Reggae, Dancehall, and contemporary afro-fusion, for his songs namely; Ukiwa Nami, Hindura and a collaboration Faith Mussa, Imigongo.
A current worship leader at Women Foundation Ministries, he recounted how some believers neglected some of his songs, calling them secular.
“But as for me, any genre which glorifies and honors God, it is okay”
The young man who considers music as his daily routine has future prospects of becoming a global musician impacting the community using the youth, whom he considers as veins and arteries of society. His stage name RataJah is a combination of Kinyarwanda and Hebrew to mean ‘Praise God.’
THE YEAR 2021 could be the year another band vanishes off the Rwandan music scene and never to be heard of again, after reports that the rock gospel band Beauty for Ashes could be no more.
Following the launch of a solo career by Olivier Kavutse, the band’s leader and founder, reports suggest that the music outfit founded in 2010, like other Rwandan groups in recent years, could be headed to its last days.
EMMANUEL SIBOMANA a.k.a Vox is an upcoming gospel music artiste who believes that through his music, he is going to minister many souls and encourage others in the Lord. At a young age, Vox started singing in 2013 as part of choirs and ministries such as True Promises ministry, and Light of the Earth ministry. His solo career however started in 2019, immediately after he was done with high school.
“When you sing from your heart and pass the right information to your fans or public, the probability of your work being sold are higher than when you simply do it focusing on the business side of it,” he said.
He added that his aspirations are to one day become an international gospel worshiper. So far, he has already released his solo called ‘Musaraba’, and has another one that features Adrien Misigaro, known as ‘Narabohowe’.
The singer is also expecting to join his university soon, which he said means he will be juggling both studies and music because they are all important as far as his career is concerned.
About his new song
According to Sibomana, he is currently working on a new song ‘Amahoro’ which means peace, featuring Mani Martin.
He said that as the name suggests, the song is all about peace, inspired by his past, when he found peace after a long time of struggling in life as a person.
“Growing up, I faced a lot of challenges in life and I didn’t know where to find peace. At the moment, I feel like my heart is at peace because of salvation and this is the reason I decided to sing something about finding peace of mind,” he said. He added that the song is also an inspiration to others who are going through different hardships to always have faith in God because he is able to give them peace of mind.
VUMILIA MFITIMANA, 24, is an upcoming gospel artiste who purposed to use her talent to preach the gospel, having been trained to sing by her mother at a tender age.
In ‘Izindi Mbaraga’, gospel singer Aline Gahongayire and Niyo Bosco are instilling hope in the hopeless and strength for the weak that there is good future after all… and people are already loving the spiritual message that the song carries.
‘Gospel Cypher’ is an all-star Hip Hop song that features eight top local rappers namely Bull Dogg, The Pink, Blaise Pascal, Ga-Yell, NPC, Philip Sendi, JeJeh Uomo Fuoco and Canada-based Bright Patrick.
"Even if the road is difficult, I will continue the journey and I will not stop, I will continue until I reach that level. These are some of the key words in Prosper Nkomezi's new song 'Nshoboza' which came out with his footage.
In the song, the singer uses figurative language to bring out a message about how people should remain humble just like the Bible states.
Since November of 2015, Emmanuel Kwizera has served as the International Missions Director for African Enterprise, based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Born in a Christian family in Rwanda, his father was a Presbyterian pastor and church planter there. His mother, an elder, and preacher in the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda, founded a children’s ministry called Mwana Ukundwa (Beloved Child). During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Emmanuel lost over 100 close family relatives. In 1998, following a period of great confusion after encountering such suffering, he gave his life to Jesus Christ and began a journey of healing and forgiveness. God called him into the ministry in 2000 as an evangelist. His local church and the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students IFES/GBU Rwanda were key influences in his call.
From 2007 to 2015, Emmanuel worked with African Enterprise Rwanda as Missions Director before shifting to Nairobi for his present assignment. He is pursuing an MA in Organizational Leadership at African International University (formerly NEGST).
Emmanuel has been involved with the Lausanne Movement since 2009 through Mission Africa (serving as Phase 2 Coordinator since 2011) and through participation at Cape Town 2010 as well as the Global Leadership Forum in Bangalore in 2013. He served as a member of the Younger Leaders Team for YLG 2016 as representative for Francophone Africa and as leader for the post-gathering sub-committee.
Emmanuel is married to Coco and has three children.
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