BURUNDI/KENYA: FANS IN NAIROBI FLOCK TO SEE ONE OF KENYA'S MOST TALENTED UP AND COMING LIVE BAND ACTS 'HOT ROD'

Record ID: 364060

  • Title: BURUNDI/KENYA: FANS IN NAIROBI FLOCK TO SEE ONE OF KENYA'S MOST TALENTED UP AND COMING LIVE BAND ACTS 'HOT ROD'
  • Date: 25th September 2001
  • Summary: VARIOUS LOCATIONS NAIROBI, KENYA/ BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS HOT ROD PERFORMING IN BAR/ FANS DANCING 2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) JEAN-PIERRE KIDUMU, FOUNDING BAND MEMBER SAYING: The situation at that time was very bad in Burundi. People were killing each other and I couldn't stay there. Then I told myself
  • Embargoed: 10th October 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NAIROBI/KENYA/BUJUMBURA/BURUNDI
  • City:
  • Country: Burundi Kenya
  • Reuters ID: LVA5LB36RDESRG3W50ZEANFCYRHF
  • Story Text: Hot Rod, one of Kenya's most talented up and coming
    live band acts. Every week, loyal fans, flock to one of
    Nairobi's night-spots to hear them perform.


    Their versatility is impressive. Belting out a mixture of
    popular songs and their own compositions, they
    boast an enthusiastic following.

    However churning out popular songs is not all that this
    group of musicians is about. They also use their music as a
    vehicle of change a channel to express their views about
    social issues.

    The group performs a multicultural melange of musical
    styles. The two Kenyans and three Burundians have been
    playing together for the last 6 years.

    This unusual combination was forged when the volatile
    situation in Burundi forced three of the band members into
    exile in Kenya.

    One of them, Jean-Pierre Kidumu, started his career at
    the age of 5. Realising the immense power of music, Kidumu
    felt that he could make a contribution to peace through
    song. But when things in Burundi went from bad to worse he
    decided to flee.

    'The situation at that time was very bad in Burundi.

    People were killing each other and I couldn't stay there.

    Then I told myself one day, let me go somewhere where there
    is peace and stability so that I can tell these people, as a
    referee, to stop fighting,' said Jean-Pierre Kidumu.

    He composed and recorded the song 'Yaramenje' which
    translates roughly to 'Traitor of society'.

    In the song he talks of the senselessness of the conflict
    between Hutu and Tutsi - condemning those who killed people,
    because they belonged to a different ethnic group or a
    different political party, as the real traitors of society.

    Alexis Sinduhije, who runs a radio station in Burundi with
    the aim of promoting peace, heard the song during a trip to
    Nairobi and decided that this was a message the people of
    Burundi needed. He persuaded Kidumu and Hot Rod to come and
    tour the country.

    'The first time I heard this 'Yaramenje' I was coming back
    from my studies in America and then I heard that song and
    really I had goose bumps all over my body,' said Alexis
    Sinduhije.

    The group agreed to go. But nothing could have prepared
    them for the reception they were to receive. Kidumu was
    received like a superstar The tour was an outstanding success.

    Their concerts were sold out with over twenty thousand people
    showing up for one performance. Even more surprising was the
    political support the tour received. Both Alexis and the group
    were hailed by politicians across the board for their initiative to
    promote peace and reconciliation.

    Among the fans who turned up to see the band perform was
    the president of Burundi, Pierre Buyoya, along with members
    of his cabinet.

    He was so impressed with their performance he invited
    them to his offices to congratulate them personally. The
    president however was not the only one moved by the group's
    music.

    During the two weeks that the group performed in
    Bujumbura, there was not a single rebel attack on the
    capital.

    For Kidumu the most important thing was that he had
    managed to bring his people together.

    'As I know Burundian people, whether Tutsi or Hutu,
    everyone is trying to support his tribe, but you know it was
    very opposite. It was different when I got there. People
    were together in a stadium and crying when I was singing the
    song and when I told them to raise up their hands everyone,
    military, everyone - it was an ambience,' he said.

    Even though ethnic strife and the problems related to it
    still persist in Burundi, the music of Kidumu and Hot Rod
    brings a glimmer of hope - A sign that these people who have
    been so bitterly divided over the past few years are finally
    ready for peace.


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