Miss Jojo confident about Pam awards


Written by Louise Umutoni
The Pam awards are here again. What started as a way of rewarding Ugandan musicians has grown into an East African event, including Rwanda. Miss Jojo is among the nominees.

"I’m confident that I will win because I have achieved as an artist so much more than they have," Jojo said. Rwanda participated in the awards for the first time last year, but it turned out to be a very disappointing experience as none of our artists was chosen.
There was a lot of talk about Ugandans knowing nothing about Rwandan music, and how they should have Rwandans pick their own winners.
This year’s Pam wards, however, are also controversial, as people do not believe the nominations were fair.
Miss Jojo of the Tukabyine fame and a two times nominee for the Pam wards feels the same. “Though the nominations were done by the artists themselves, radio presenters and everyone in the entertainment, some really good artists were left out for less performing ones” Jojo said.
She added that people like Dadi Casanova, Franky Joe (Nyegera) and Florida (Nyiriramba) were not chosen, yet they are among the best artists Rwanda has got.
Last years awards, according to Miss Jojo, were catastrophic as everything was totally new and there was a lot of disorganization, especially amongst the Rwandan artists whose participation was not really acknowledged by the organizers. She is however optimistic that this year will be better, because everyone is better prepared. Also, the organizers are taking Rwandan music seriously and believe Rwanda can compete favorably.
When asked how she feels about not winning last year, she says she won since most Rwandans thought she should have won; nothing else matters, she says.
Miss Jojo is confident that this year she’s taking the award home. “When I look at the other nominees for the best female artist, I’m confident that I will win because I have achieved as an artist so much more than they have,” Jojo said.
Miss Jojo is best known for Tukabyine, and Respect which caused a lot of controversy especially among men who she claims only reacted the way they did because they are not used to being told the truth. “Men in Rwanda do not respect women, and I was only telling them to respect us but they could not handle the truth,” she explains.
For someone who just started singing in 2005 when she released her first single Mbgira, Miss Jojo has already achieved a lot. A graduate from the National University, Jojo claims she has loved music ever since she was little, with the late Aliyah as her role model.
However, she could not follow her dream of becoming a musician because she wanted to pursue her degree first. “Most people in Rwanda thought musicians were ibirara (hooligans) who failed to study, but I wanted to prove that I could do both” Miss Jojo said.
Being an artist, however, is not an easy thing in Rwanda. Most artists complain about lack of financing and markets for their music, as well as misconceptions about musicians. Miss Jojo has been experienced both.
“We artists are not understood, people think we have a lot of money and because they know us the usually charge us more for everything, yet we might be worse off than they are,” she remarks. “Also, society isn’t comfortable with us and they see us as a threat to culture, yet we are exactly promoting Rwandan culture,” Jojo adds. However all these negative factors do not seem to deter the artists, as most of them sing because they love music, and it’s a way to communicate with society. “Myriam Makebe is my big inspiration; she loved to sing, and she tried so hard to represent Africa despite resistance. I want to be like her.”