Mani Martin is a

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

n singer, songwriter, actor and performing artist. He has won numerous awards. His unique musical sound that reflects the

Afro-fusion Afrobeats (not to be confused with Afrobeat or Afroswing), or Afro-pop or Afro-fusion (or Afropop or Afrofusion), is an umbrella term to describe popular music from West Africa and the diaspora that initially developed in Nigeria, Ghana, and ...

, urban and traditional sounds has received National & international attention hence being described by "Rwanda Spectrum Magazine" as one of the best live music performing artists of the Rwandan music scene. Mani sings in Kinyarwanda, Kiswahili, English and French.

History

Early years

Mani was born on 24 December 1988 in Ntura village in the Western Province of Rwanda. He grew up in a Charity Home.

Musical career

His talent was discovered at the age of nine, he composed his first song called "Barihe" which means "where are they" as a way to release the endless questions in the mind of Rwanda innocent child three years after the tragic history of the 1994 Genocide against the

Tutsi The Tutsi (), or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi (the other two being the largest Bantu ethnic grou ...

. In 2000, Mani recorded a tape of 12 songs titled "Agapfa kaburiwe ni Impango" which opened a door for him to tour

performing in various churches; as well, he released the Swahili version called "Urukumbuzi and Kumbukumbu". In 2010, after high school, Mani he founded his own band (Kesho Band) and started performing at different and started performing in small events, weddings and hotel events in order to earn a living outside charity home and to cater for his further education.

Discography

Studio albums

Movie

Beyond his musical career, Mani has also explored acting and starred in the film "Long Coat" in 2009 which explored the lives of Rwandans after the

Genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...

of 1994 and kept collaborating with movie industry by providing music for films and creating sound tracks for different movies.

Awards and nominations

Concerts

Mani has performed both locally and on international festivals such as. * ''Sauti Za Busara in Zanzibar'' * ''Amani festival" in DRC'' * ''Bayimba International Festival" 2013 in Uganda'' * ''Jeux de la francophonie'' in France * ''Fespaco festival'' in Burkina Faso * ''Transform Africa'' in Rwanda * ''AU Summit'' * ''World Economic Forum'' in Kigali * ''Kigali Up festival'' * ''Iwacu Music Festival''

Personal life

In February 2013, Mani was badly injured in a motorcycle accident. After hospitalization, the artist went on to make a full recovery and went to perform in Souti zabusara festival. Mani started recording songs on different topics other than just gospel songs hence was criticized by the people who wanted him to sing only gospel songs. In 2014, he lost his voice after swallowing a piece of toothpick, that wounded his vocal chords at the level of not being able to sing or speak, after a three months medical follow up he got his voice back and started to work on his Afro album On 7 July 2017, he graduated with a Bachelor in Media and Mass Communication from

Mount Kenya University Mount Kenya University (MKU) is a private, multi-campus, university in the municipal county of Thika, Kenya. The university was founded by Simon Gicharu, Prof. Simon N. Gicharu and has since become one of the largest private universities in Ken ...

Music style

His songs are characterised by message about peace, love and humanity thus being invited to take part in various peace events such as "Mani Martin Japan Peace Tour" organised by

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

Japan with NPO T.E.R, UNAMID Peace celebration in Darfur organised by Unamid Darfur Sudan. Mani envisions the world where people live in love, peace and harmony where all lives are treated with respect and dignity. Mani has various collaborations with Eddy Kenzo and Sauti Sol.