Malia Carine takes her hit music to her motherland

Mary Lillian Carine is a young Rwandan pop singer who was born in Belgium and grew up in Montréal, Canada. Around last summer, she decided to promote her music to her home country to connect with local artists and audiences.

“I started singing when I was a little girl,” she told Vijana FM during an exclusive interview. She said that at the beginning it was very challenging as her parents wanted her to focus on her studies. After graduating from the University of Quebec where she got a bachelor’s degree in business administration, she started doing music full time. Her parents were happy and not as concerned about her as before.

Carine gets inspiration from pop, folk, world and gospel singers. She also took various music lessons, including guitar.

The talented singer has been performing in various entertainment events at different venues in Kigali. She has also made an incredible collabo with a local artist called Tru.D. Their song ‘Home Sweet Home’ has gone viral on YouTube and has been played a lot on many local radio stations and national television. The track’s message is about Rwanda’s tremendous development after the 1994 genocide against Tutsis, and the beauties of the city of Kigali. The pop singer says that the song has gone international.

Carine adds that working with Rwandan artists and continuing her music career in Rwanda is both challenging and fun. She told Vijana that one of the challenges she faced in Rwanda was that she sings most of her songs in English, but most Rwandan artists sing in Kinyarwanda—a language spoken by all Rwandans.

“[The] Canadian audience doesn’t care about the language you use in your music. You can sing in Spanish, English, French and so forth,” she said.

She decided to mix Kinyarwanda and English in her love song ‘Udushagarira.’ She says that this will help her to connect with the local audience.

Asked about her views on the piracy and copyright issues many artists face, she replied that the problem is the same in Western countries and Africa. But she affirms that piracy promotes some up-and-coming artists in a way. Those who are concerned are artists who are in what she calls a “safe place,” or stars.

Carine also told Vijana FM that as a professional singer she makes money through performances, festivals and adverts. Due to piracy it is hard to sell music.

She counts as one of her accomplishments her participation in a Montréal hip-hop festival, in which she was awarded the Best Newcomer Artist prize in the R&B category for her piece ‘I Keep on Dreaming’ from a famous arranger, Sonny Black.

Malia Carine’s Linkedin profile says she worked with producers Jeff Blue and Mike Gonsolin in a studio in Hollywood, Los Angeles. She says it was her best experience as an artist. “I learnt from the music industry. How it really works. Dreams came true.”

She said she is happy to be in Rwanda to connect with her fellow Rwandans. Her advice to aspiring artists is to continue practicing and not give up despite challenges they encounter.

Recording, networking and releasing more videos are her future plans. In her free time she enjoys going out, socializing and swimming.

This talented lady is a performing artist to watch in Rwanda, the East African region, Canada and the rest of the world.

Below is  a link to her  hit song home sweet home,

home sweet home