In Rwanda, progress is seen in various aspects of life, it is also seen in music for both men and women.
However, there are still obstacles, especially for women and girls, that prevent some from being able to achieve their dreams and develop as they would like.
Some female artists believe that in Rwanda there is sexual bribery in music, whether it is journalists, song producers, concert organizers, marketers, artists’ advisors and others who have contact with it.
These artists insist that this slows down the music in Nyarwanda and holds back the talent who refuse to pay this bribe.
One of them, who does not wish to be named, gave an example by shaking hands with the journalists saying: “It is not easy for me to progress when I play a song on the radio. Some journalists tell me that we have to agree on something before they can play my song, I asked what it is and he told me that it is to please him, it is difficult for me to progress.”
Another one agreed saying, “Sometimes when you play a song on the radio, the reporter asks you to visit him or go out, but before he plays your song, he wants you to sleep with him. They discourage you and ask you to wait another time to make music.”
Some female artists have been exposed to the effects of sexual harassment and had unplanned pregnancies; here are some of the real examples of celebrities, so some ended up giving up on making music again, while others gave up music altogether and loved it.
Apart from this corruption, some of the girls believe that the music scene in Rwanda has a way of hindering the talents of girls who want to go into it because it is often difficult to find someone of faith to help you in your musical journey.
At various times, girls have reported that there are more obstacles they face in music that slow them down, compared to those faced by boys.
Another thing that they have been discouraging them from, is the extortion of money by journalists to promote them and play their songs, and in fact when they are starting, the capital is still small.
There are many examples of singers who showed potential but ended up giving birth before they wanted to and found their talent and love for music to be crushed.
On the other hand, the early Rwandan culture did not allow girls to be seen in music and they were not free in these musical activities, as it often required walking around and spending nights without sleeping or making songs. However, this is no longer a problem because many of them have overcome these barriers, because apart from music, there are other jobs that were done only by boys and are now done by girls.
