Lyrics
Track 1: High Power
Written by 1key
Produced by Eloi
Guitar by Nganji Arnaud
Inspiration: HiiiPower by Kendrick Lamar
[Intro]
The sun’s burning, trees are falling
Rise from ashes or fade in the mourning
Alkeymie, High power
Tag: hip hop
Encounter with The Culture
Growing up poor in the 80’s in a small village with no electricity somewhere at the border between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaïre then), I didn’t know what television was till I was about eight or nine years old. My grandfather’s small radio operating with batteries, which I pounded gently and exposed to sun rays for recharge (miracles of science!), was my only source of music entertainment. I remember the distorted sounds of soucousse, rumba, zouk machine, reggae, funk, and pop due to bad reception when my granddad wasn’t listening to the News about wars ravaging almost every part of Africa. Continue reading “Encounter with The Culture”
I Am HIP HOP
First thing first, shout-out to the pioneers
Without their work, we’d have no careers
Quit my job, became my own marketeer
Started from a blog, one-man team, now we fuckin here
Before I brag about my deeds, respect to the engineers
The designers, the architects- Nyirarumaga, Biggie and Pac
And every storyteller laying their soul on every track
You all put art in my heart, I put poetry in rap
From my early start, I just wanna give back
1keynote on #YourMusicYourVoice
Before the Event
About a month ago, when I received an email from the Goethe Institute in Rwanda to participate in a workshop/concert project in Kampala, Uganda, scheduled from 1st-5th October under the theme #YourMusicYourVoice on which Megaloh & Ghanain Stallion, who were on an African tour, would perform, I thought “Who are these guys?” So I looked them up and damn they were hot! I don’t speak German but music has no language. It is the language of the universe. I felt the anger, the protest in their Hip Hop. Continue reading “1keynote on #YourMusicYourVoice”
Eric 1Key – after the ‘Expericment’
Published on December 04, 2016 by Moses Opobo for the New Times
I was already familiar with Opobo’s work, which he shared on his Facebook page and we even got deeper after a few arguments related to how I view the work of entertainment journalists in Rwanda. He is absolutely right when he says;
The slam poet, rapper and blogger has cultivated another parallel reputation over the years – ranting. So much so that, day in, day out, he has to contend with the frequent question: “Eric, why do you like to criticize?”
When he asked me to meet him so we could discuss about my work, I said to myself, “I hope he did his research.” Indeed he did and we had a good couple of hours delving into the #Expericment series.
Basically it was testing the waters to see what business model could work out, and 1Key stretched his imagination and creativity to the limit. In all, he did four Expericment shows staged at different venues in Kigali, each with a different theme and concept; from politics to sex to identity.
Thank you, Mr. Opobo for your interest in my work, and rants 🙂
All the best!
Celebrities Show with Eric 1Key
Published on Nov 1st, 2016 by the Celebrity Show for Royal TV
Usually my interviews are in English with some exceptions in French. Loukman Nzeyimana, a TV moderator, thought it would be a good idea to share the little I know with the mass that does not speak English or French. And he was totally right. So here is me in Kinyarwanda for 22 minutes.
