Based: Rwanda
Charly and Nina (or Charlyna Nina like they prefer to call themselves) first met in 2010 during music gig as backup singers, for Kitoko’s concert, but little did they know that their music would make it this far.
Born Charlotte Rulinda and Fatuma Nina Umuhoza respectively, the dynamic duo is not the only female pop group in the country, but has also been able to dominate the country’s music scene in a space of just five years
Their meteoric rise to fame has been credited to hard work, good management and their tenacity in the competitive industry. Charly also reveals that humility has been key to their success.
“Music has changed some aspects of my life as a professional job. But I haven’t changed substantially as a person. It has opened me up to a wider margin of the society but I still try to live a reserved life.”
They (the artists) have shaped us in so many ways probably because most of the people we worked with throughout the year have more experience than we do so we definitely learnt a lot. I think I learnt a lot from Fizzo he has been in music for so many years. So he knows a lot,” Nina says before Charly adds.
“Collaborations are always good. We learn from each other as musicians and also learn different approaches and techniques. I would say that Indoro so far is our biggest collabo.”
Their hit song Indoro, that featured Belgium based Burundian, Big Fizzo was a breakthrough for them that saw them break their boundaries both musically and geographically, that saw them perform at different regional concerts and win several awards including the recent Hip hop ‘Song of the year award’.
Their biggest breakthrough however was their music tour in Europe.
Europe music tour
In company of Dj Pius, and Big Fizzo, the duo admits that their three week music tour in Europe was eye opening for them