This young man was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in North Kivu, in Uvila Province, around the year 1992, and at the age of five he moved to Rwanda, where he also studied up to high school before he went to study in India. He doesn’t know Swahili like what they speak in Tanzania or Kenya, but he is one of the most popular singers in that language. How did it start?

A reporter from the Kame Official channel explains that in the Congo they do not speak the Pure Swahili, i.e. Kiswahili Sanifu, because they mix other languages including French and Lingala. Another reason he says, is that he doesn’t know Swahili because he moved when he was a child, so he is now mixed with the Rwandan people, since he has been in Rwanda for more than 25 years.

This young man who used to sing popular Kinyarwanda songs wanted to become more famous, he made a song in English that can be heard by many, so that his art can cross borders. He did an English song called You Won’t Let Go, but it didn’t become popular.
Kame Official’s reporter says: "He started to think about how to make songs in English, French, almost in international languages but not in Swahili."

He went on to explain why he made the song in Swahili, after realizing that the English version was not popular. "A person called Papi Clever and Dorcas used to sing songs from the book, they came to do the songs in Swahili and were advised by the guy they work with (Merci Pianist), he said: here are all the songs from the book you have done, the only thing left is to change them to sing in Swahili.

They went on to sing in Swahili, but their song Ameniweka Huru Kweli become more popular. That’s when they approached Israel Mbonyi, and he approached them and asked: ’but I see your favorite songs from Swahili, who write them?’"

Israel Mbonyi asked this wanting to make a popular song like that. "Because Israel does not know how to write Swahili. Because the song Ameniweka Huru was becoming famous, he immediately said, ’let me do the Swahili’, that’s when he came to do the songs including Nina Siri, which are on the album called Nk’Umusirikare."

Israel Mbonyi did Nina Siri for just testing, wanting to see how it would go. "He said let me do one song and see how it goes", but he took it to Papi Clever and Dorcas, and they pinned it to their song Ameniweka Huru which was famous. What made it so popular was that it was new, it was not in the Book, but Ameniweka Huru was the one which gave it a way.”

He continued: "When he found that it become popular, he got someone to write a song for him in Swahili, and now he is famous, especially just because he is more popular in Swahili than in Kinyarwanda. Kenyans and Tanzanians are the ones who made him international.”

"Papi Clever ended up being the person who wrote Israel Mbonyi’s songs," he concluded.
Israel Mbonyi writes in the little Swahili he knows or in Kinyarwanda, and the person who writes to him translates it into Pure Swahili, which can be used in Tanzania and Kenya, instead of the one used in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Papi Clever & Dorcas helped Israel Mbonyi to get someone who will write for him songs in swahili