Israel Mbonyicyambu known as Israel Mbonyi in Rwanda where he grew up, Democratic Republic of Congo where he was born and many other countries where he has fans, explained how music attracted him, making him forget everything else including playing football.
In an interview with BBC Radio, he explained his professional music journey that started in 2015, and before that he sang in a choir, and some of the songs he wrote for himself he gave them to that choir or to other artistes.
In response to a BBC reporter on how he found out he had a talent for singing, he replied: “You know all things and talents doesn’t just happen right away. When you get a talent, you start loving it from childhood, maybe you see that it is something you like, it is something you are happy about and it attracts you."
He continued: “You know any kid who is flexible can do anything. I played soccer and loved it, I joked, I felt that everything was possible. But there is a level at which you feel that there is one attraction for everyone. So that’s music to me.”
He explained how he started music, since it is something that he felt the most, saying: "I started singing in the church, I ended up playing for the choirs in 2003, little by little I fell in love with it, from there I started to learn to write songs and give them to choirs and sing them, little by little, I finally got to the point where I could sing them too myself.”
He added: “It’s been growing up, but in 2015 I can say I started singing professionally, that’s when I started the real ministry of singing. Before I used to write and give my songs to choirs, and give other artists to sing them. I felt they were capable, because I didn’t have confidence."
Israel Mbonyi said that his lack of confidence disappeared when he found that he was the one who could sing. He said: "It is when you get to a place and you find that you are the one trying to sing better than others, so you start to believe in yourself, and start practicing there little by little, until you feel that you can do it."
He started singing long before 2015, because he always loved it, and used to sing to his family. He said: “I started long ago, I started writing long ago, I sung, I sung to my friends, my family, I really sung and they told me that they like it. It was in 2015 that I said, ‘What if I go to the studio and start releasing songs?"’
Israel Mbonyi was born in the year 1992, so he is not a normal child as he says.
