The music of Rwanda encompasses

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

n traditions of

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

as well as contemporary

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

Afrobeat Afrobeat (also known as Afrofunk) is a West African music genre, fusing influences from Nigerian (such as Yoruba) and Ghanaian (such as highlife) music, with American funk, jazz, and soul influences. With a focus on chanted vocals, complex i ...

and Congolese ndombolo, and performers of a wide variety of Western genres including

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

, R&B, gospel music and pop ballads.

Traditional music

Traditional music and dance are taught in "amatorero" dance groups, which are found across the country. The most famous of these is the Ballet National Urukerereza, which was created in the early 1970s to represent Rwanda in international events. Also famous were the Amasimbi n'amakombe and Irindiro dance troupes. The ikinimba is perhaps the most revered musical tradition in Rwanda. It is a dance that tells the stories of Rwandan heroes and kings, accompanied by instruments like ngoma, ikembe, iningiri, umuduri and inanga. The inanga, a lyre-like

string instrument In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners. Musicians play some ...

, has been played many of Rwanda's best-known performers, including Rujindiri, Sebatunzi, Rwishyura, Simparingoma, Sentoré, Kirusu, Sophie and Viateur Kabarira, and Simon Bikindi. Jean-Paul Samputu, along with his group Ingeli, won two Kora awards (African Grammy awards) for "Most Inspiring Artist" and "Best Traditional Artist" in 2003 for their performance of neo-traditional Rwandan music. The group tours the world spreading the Christian message of peace and reconciliation, and helps raise money for the many orphans of Rwanda. In 2007 Samputu brought twelve of these orphans, known as Mizero Children of Rwanda, to tour the U.S. and Canada. Cyprien Kagorora was nominated for a 2005 Kora Award in the category of "Best Traditional Artist". He is among the most recognizable male vocalists in Rwanda.

Contemporary artists

In the post-colonial period, Rwanda produced popular local bands like Imena, Nyampinga, Les 8 Anges, Les Fellows, Impala, Abamarungu, Los Compagnons de la Chanson, Bisa, Ingenzi, and Isibo y'Ishakwe. They took influences from across Africa, especially the Congo, as well as Caribbean Zouk and

Reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

. Socio-military unrest and violence led many Rwandans to move overseas in the late 20th century, bringing their country's music to cities like

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. For many years, Rwandan-Belgian Cécile Kayirebwa was arguably the most internationally famous Rwandan musician. She is still played regularly on Rwandan radio stations.Court orders Orinfor, Isango star pay Rwf 8.6M to Kayirebwa
February 2013, GretLakesVoice, Retrieved 4 March 2016 The late 1990s saw the arrival of Rwandan-Canadian Corneille and Jean-Paul Samputu. The

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...

temporarily disrupted music production within Rwanda. In recent years music has gradually returned to the country, led by Rwandan youth. A crop of new stars has emerged, including such names as Kamichi, Aimé Murefu, Mani Martin, Tom Close, Urban Boyz, Miss Jojo, King James, Knowless, Dream Boys, Kitoko, Riderman, and Miss Shanel.

Local music industry

The music industry in Rwanda is gradually growing and becoming more professionalized. An increasing number of companies are investing in the development of new talent, including the production of major music festivals like Kigali Up! and Primus Guma Guma Super Star, and the music competition television show .artists like Meddy, are now taking Rwandan music to the next level

References

Bibliography

* Jacquemin, Jean-Pierre, Jadot Sezirahigha and Richard Trillo. "Echoes from the Hills". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), ''World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East'', pp 608–612. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. {{DEFAULTSORT:Music Of Rwanda Music of Rwanda