Online Newspaper for Students at School of Journalism

Tales of a mechanical engineer turned musician

According to Omer Isingizwe alias Mirenge, 50% of young people don’t chase after their dreams but instead settle for what is convenient even when it doesn’t fully satisfy their desires.

Although he holds a Bachelors Degree in mechanical engineering from ‘Ecole de Kabgayi’, re-known YouTuber: Mirenge TV and CEO Trace music Rwanda chose ‘passion’ over qualifications.

Since childhood, Mirenge was gifted with an art to sing and write songs a dream he decided to chase during his days at ‘Ecole de Kabgayi’ but was sent aback a few steps because of finances.

Born and raised in Ntenyo village-Ruhango district, Mirenge moved to Kigali in 2022 to work as a mechanic.

He ‘starved’ himself so as to save money and record at least one of his songs. With 120,000 frw, he approached producer ‘Kii Mode’ who helped release his first single dubbed ‘down for him’ which unfortunately, didn’t receive massive air play.

Amidst discouragement from parents and friends, Mirenge recorded his second single ‘Asalina’ which featured Zech.

Later that same year, his brother boosted his career with a whooping 300,000frw that he used to record his third track ‘Amavuno’ with ‘modern’ producer Ayo Rush.

To keep up with competition and sale his music to massive audiences, Mirenge started a YouTube channel(Mirenge TV) and this to him, led to his breakthrough.

“I used to share my content on the channel and people liked it, in a blink of an eye, I had sponsors and YouTube was also paying me”.

Mirenge now helps children with talented in music and acting to develop them with the recent one being ‘Gishana group’ that he helped write their song titled ‘Monika’.

To prove that ‘he didn’t come to play’, Mirenge also signed his first producer ‘Kii Mode’ under his record label and has brought ‘back to life’ legendary Rwandan actors like Tuku Wote and Joshua challenges.

“My goal is to contribute massively to the Rwandan film industry so that we surpass the level of Nigerian cinema”, he stated during our interview at Biryogo in Nyamirambo.

Just recently, Mirenge took over ‘Iris TV’ as a way of implementing his ‘acting’ dream.

Quoting Barrack Obama, the 23 year old believes in the slogan “Yes we can”.

Share this article

Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp
Email
Print