May 2020 | ISSUE 07
PEACE HAJE
In This Issue #07 Editor in Chief Shema Abdoul, @shemaharris
Design Layout Shema Abdoul, @shemaharris Shabani Serval, @Shabaniserval Interviews Peace Haje, Roger Jean Nsengiyumva & Kazi Socials @TheZoomRw TheZoom.Rw Contact Submissions@TheZoom.Rw
08 MEET KAZI 15 POEM 17 NEW SOUNDS 18 ROGER JEAN 28 PHOTOGRAPHY 30 PEACE HAJE 36 OUR OBSESSIONS
Contents
Editor’s Note #STAYHOME #STAYSTAFE #STAYSTRONG
While the world changed overnight and the future may seems like a far reach. It is important to stay in the moment, to keep everything into a new day to day perspective. The “here and now” has never been more relevant. Throughout this surreal new reality we are all going through, simple things suddenly became the only things that matters. Let’s not forget that a simple hug, a moment spend with our loved ones, or even sitting next to a stranger at a café just sharing a smile feels like it was a luxury we all took for granted. We are in this together. Life is a shared experience and even the smallest of our actions always have repercussions on others. Cheers SHEMA Abdoul EDITOR IN CHIEF
MEET KAZI
“ I think we need more people of the culture to be in positions of power and influence. I’m speaking about...”
Z - What does rap means to you generally in your life?
Z - How do you define your music basically in simple words?
K - Rap to me is a way to exercise freedom of
K - The music is primarily Hip-Hop/Rap and R&B. A lot of
expression. I can say what I want, how I want it without any concern of others opinion. It’s therapeutic, relieving and fulfilling.
Z - What does Nipsey & pop’s death taught you or meant to your music and career? K - Both Nipsey and Pop Smoke were very young during
their untimely demise. It’s unfortunate to think that they were on the brink of reaching a pinnacle point in their music career. In Rap, we’ve seen numerous examples of talent not reaching its full potential due to unexpected deaths led by violence or drugs. Even though at times it appeares avoidable, when your time is called it’s inevitable. Even though they are no longer with us, there music continues to live on.. a piece of them will always be retained amongst fans. When I think of Nipsey I also think impact outside of his music career. He had a refreshing perspective, he was an entrepreneur and also heavily involved in his community. That inspires me to take what they’ve done to reach newer heights.
Z - How do you differ rap from hip-hop cause some people twist the call on the culture K - Hip-Hop is the culture and Rap is the music. I
the times it sounds like a merger of both genres because I use poetry and flow to rap but I incorporate melodic tones with my voice. I’m very much a hip-hop head so I care about the lyrics, I like having substance and bars in my songs.
Z - What do you mean when you say “New single every 14 days for the next 365”? K - Since September 2019, I began a new journey
entitled Campaign 2020. Basically my objective is to release music every two weeks until the end of the year 2020. Hence a new single every 14 days for the next 356 days.
Z - What is that thing apart from rap and music that inspires you the most & why ? K - Business, Entrepreneurship. Creating something
from nothing but just a thought to a legitimate reality is one of the most fulfilling experiences. I enjoy identifying needs and finding a solution especially to problems that affects others besides myself.
Z - If rap didn’t exist what else will you be dope at, that people like us will come to interview? K - I’m a creative, I think I would continue to express it
believe that right now Hip-Hop is the most influential thing on earth. From trends, fashion, politics to the vernacular, you can find components in society that come from Hip-Hop culture or are directly tied to it. An indication of this is rap music that is now the most popular genre in the world and is proven to be the biggest monetarily
in entrepreneurship. When i look at Kanye West and the Yeezys, Steve Jobs and Iphones and many more I think of entrepreneurs who use their creativity for business.
Z - Why did you choose to rap over all genres of music?
good to be true.
K - Rap was the genre of music I fell in love with. I as-
sociated with the music because the majority of artists looked like me. As i was growing up, rap music taught me the English language. There’s something authentic and unapologetic about the music that no other genre ha.
Z - Would you prefer lust on a first date or love comes first? K - I don’t believe in love on a first date. It would be too Z - Are you in a relationship? K - I’m single.
Z - What do you think rappers are missing out nowadays? K - Not all but the majority of rappers now are missing
passion. I think if it wasn’t for the success of rap, a lot of rappers wouldn’t be rapping. They look at this like a means to make money. I don’t judge but I think fans can tell when a rapper doesn’t care too much for their music.
Z - What changes do you think needed in a rap culture and industry in today’s era? K - I think we need more people of the culture to be
in positions of power and influence. I’m speaking about label owners, executives, CEOs, head of festivals, radio stations etc. They should reflect the beliefs and lifestyles of Rap. Once again, some people are in this industry solely for a check and do not care for the culture.
Z - What should we expect from Kazi this year 2020? K - In an effort to continue releasing new music for the
fans. I’ve decided to release a project on May 10th called Solitude Package : Spring Edition. Due to Covid-19 spreading globally, we’ve all been forced to spend a lot of time inside, thus not enjoying the warm weather. This package will be a way for people to enjoy warm weather music even if they’re inside their home. It will feature my first English/Kinyarwanda song entitled “Work” featuring LPH, another talented Rwandese artist. I guarantee that people will have this song on replay the whole summer.
Z - Any last words? K - Shout out to Shema and the people at TheZoom
Magazine for shedding light on Rwandese artists around the world. Follow me on social media at @bykazi for new music every two weeks. Solitude Package will be available on all streaming platforms Apple Music, Spotify on May 10th !
IF
A POEM By Keza Melissa
It started like this...i mean like this Going back to this thought “WHAT IF?” Coming and going expanding this IF Then i realised that it’s bigger than it looks. Through it, doors can open Miracles can happen We can see the light when its positive I mean we can shine and fly Only IF. But on the other side it frightens us It rudely shakes our brains It destroys us with pain Shows us how closer the hell is IF you are just a torturer. IF...our dreams are big We wish the whole day...no the whole life The laughter of the better life tickles us We step into the new world Where florets surround us Oh how smooth it is... How easy to breath, A snap of you and then the emptiness Reality swallows our happiness, The pain knocks as it tocks, Terrorising thoughts begin Dreams become dreams by then This chops off the beauty in you IF, IF, what if i fly and never stop? What if i dream and never wake up? What if your two faces become one? What if my wounds never heal? Wait what if i’m scared? IF elate me, ecstatic me Show me the pathway Teach me how to Allow me to walk away And fight in my way IF elate me, ecstatic me IF.
MEET ROGER-JEAN NSENGIYUMVA photography: Daniel Hambury Stella Picture Shows Dadir Hassan
Z - Tell us about yourself. R - My name is Roger Jean Nsengiyumva, I am twenty five years old, and I’m an artist.
Z - What kind of roles do you prefer? R - Mental health is something that I have battled with since I could talk. I find it therapeutic, to lend my experiences of trauma to performing.
Z - How long have you been acting? R - I started when I was 15 I’ll be 26 in two weeks so nearly eleven years now.
Z - Tell us about a time when you had a really bad day but had to perform. How did you get through it? R - I recently just finished writing, producing, directing and acting in my own film, we had a bath as a prop in a scene we were shooting, and the bath started leaking, we had to stop shooting and go to a hardware store to buy some tarpaulin and super glue, luckily there was one just opposite set. Mad stress
Z - Describe your acting style. R - I’m self-taught so I’m not that knowledgeable on the
varied “styles” I’ve also approached roles slightly differently depending on what has been required, My first thought is always my physicality, what does my character use their body for, my relationship with that usually informs me enough to start making decisions. But fundamentally I just learn as much as I can from all relevant aspects of the set, without intruding, and hope for the best haha
Z - Do you speak Kinyarwanda? R - Gike! Z - What’s your annoying habit? R - I’m trying to quit smoking. Z - Who is your favorite actor? R - I can’t pin this down to one, Tom Hardy, Shia labeouf,
Marlon Brando, James Dean, Charlie Chaplin, Denzel Washington, Sidney Poitier to name a few.
Z - If you weren’t an actor or a footballer what would you be doing? R - YOOOO. I do not know, literally have no idea. Z -Where is the last place you went on vacation? R - Croatia with my girlfriend, last year. Z - What character was the toughest for you to change into? R - Ngago, at the National Theatre. The most
challenging, but without doubt one of the most rewarding experiences
Z - When was your first role as an actor? R - Fabrice, Africa United 2010 Z - What is the funniest thing that has happened to you recently? R - I just started a podcast with my friends, that’s been funny AF
Z - Estimate how many gorillas are in Rwanda R - Woow, what. damn I’m hoping in it’s thousands but
i fear the number may be dramatically less then that, a few hundred?
Z - In a biographical film of your life, who would you like to play you? R - Hah, I don’t know geezer, I don’t know anyone alive that looks like me, a highly expressive silverback would do a pretty decent job I reckon.
Z - What’s your perfect Sunday afternoon look like? R - A solid workout. Good food. Good company Z -Are you happy with your career so far? R - I really don’t think about it too much, I’m happy with
what i’ve achieved, and the myriad of people it takes to complete a project, but theres so much more to come, and most of my thought really goes into how I am going to achieve that.
Z -What was your journey like to becoming an actor? R - Weird. I wanted to be a footballer when I was a
kid; I played for Norwich academy at around the age of 13/14. I always dreamt of playing in this huge stadium, I remember it being colorful and huge, this weirded me out as a kid because I had never seen this stadium before, (I’ve always been a Liverpool fan - my best friend’s father was scouse and he took me to all my training games and Sunday league games as a kid) but the stadium I was dreaming of wasn’t An field. Anyway a few years later a producers mother in laws saw a picture of my playing football and eventually casted me in Africa United, I was in the opening ceremony of the world cup South Africa 2010, I had just been taken out of school to re shoot some of the scenes for the film when I realized that the dream I had as a kid was what I was seeing at that time, weird in it.
Z -What projects are you dying to work on in the future? R - I have a few projects written by myself, that I
can’t wait to start working on, as well as a production company I’ve launched called! LLUMINÉE we have a few titles ready to be released as well as a film festival were launching this summer, with everything that’s currently happening I thought it would be pertinent to create a platform to help film makers and artists collaborate during this time and share their work.
Z -Any last words R - Murakoze
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PHOTOGRAPHY Connecting Lines This was an attempt at Modernist photography. I tried to make all objects in the frame connect to each other. Objects and humans carry lines and in the image I tried to capture how those lines interact altogether. One way I decided to go about it is by paying attention to how the linear points in my images are interacting. My focus was on how one object can have perpendicular and/or parallel traits similar to one another without necessarily touching each other. Overall, the human figure in the image interacts with the surrounding in terms of playing with the geometries in the frames.
James Turrell ASU Skyspace: Air Apparent The intention behind the picture was to capture the tranquility of the space inside and outside the structure.
Romantic Architecture While shooting this frame I was inspired by Julius Shulman. In the process I kept trying to romanticize the space while giving an untold story to the architectural space. I tried to take a detailed part of the building with a human figure interacting with the given architectural space. I managed to have a clear presentation of where everything is in the frame and how they are intentionally placed. Overall, the purpose was to bring out the beautiful aspect of the building.
Broken Lines “Broken lines” was inspired by Julius Shulman’s photography. My aim was to give an untold story to an architectural space while keeping the authenticity of the building. I took a closeup picture of a white building that has a grouping of parallel windows. However, I break the grouped lines of the windows by introducing a human figure in between two columns of windows.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CYNTHIA NYIRINKWAYA
Peace Haje where passion meets talent Photographer + Bradon Titaro + Ishmil Waterman + Natasha Gerschon + Osato Erebor Written by Shema Abdoul The talented Peace Haje was born in Canada from two Rwandese parents. Passionate about fashion, As long as Peace Haje is among the next generation of rising star, we’ll be in good hands. Her unwavering charisma is palpable on camera and screen, but entirely contagious in person. She roots herself in an unabashed introspection that is beyond her years. She worked hard to get into character. In this intimate interview, Peace Haje offers anecdotes about her life, the “modelling” series and her future projects to push herself out of her comfort zone
Z - Tell us more about yourself? P - My name is Peace. Both of my parents are from
Z - What is the biggest change you would like to see in your lifetime?
Rwanda but I was born in Canada. I model full time in Toronto. A lot of people don’t know I write music and poetry, so stay tuned for that in the New Year. Other than that, I’m just a laid back foodie, obsessed with music, fashion, and travel.
P - I feel like this change is already occurring, but I want
Z - How did your love of fashion come to be?
Z - You have chosen to be the change you wish to see. What does that mean to you?
P - From the age of 3 I’ve always loved dressing up in my
mother’s heels and dresses. I always wanted to be different in terms of style. Scary Spice was also my idol back in those days, so I grew up with her spirit of fashion in mind. I feel like I have so many moods and fashion helps me express the way I feel.
Z - What do you think of fashion in Canada? P - I feel like Canada is a great place to start as a model.
There’s so much talent here, it’s crazy. BUT, to be brutally honest, as a black model, the market doesn’t work too much in my favor. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll see diversity, but the faces get familiar fast. There’s so much hidden talent here, especially with the millennials on the come up. From designers to photographers, we got all the resources. I just think we need more recognition. In due time though.
Z - Which five words would your friends use to describe you? P - Moody (it’s the Gemini in me), Kind hearted, Ambitious, Chill, Goofy
Z - Do you have someone who influences you in fashion? P - I have a bunch. Rihanna is definitely a whole mood
when it comes to whatever she does. Beyonce. It really all depends on my mood. I get influence from everywhere.
Z - Who is the photographer or a designer you would love to work with? P - JD Barnes is an amazing photographer I am manifesting to work with. I want to work with ALL the brands. I don’t discriminate. #BOOKME
to see Africa gain back its power and show the world that we are not what they see on TV. Rwanda’s development is such an inspiration to me. I see the whole continent getting to that level.
P - If you want to see change in the world, you have to
change yourself first. Eliminate negativity that surrounds you. Embrace love and peace. And then the rest is a chain reaction.
Z - What are the fashion trends you love this fall? P - Again, it changes with my mood. I’ve been loving the
sleek, all black looks. Band tees, mesh body suits. Ripped jeans.
Z - What is a typical day in Peace Haje’s life? P - If I have a shoot, I’m up at 7am drinking water
probably with a mask on my face. Then I’m on set all day. If I have an off day, I usually go out for lunch with my friends. Go to the gym. Find a random thing to do in the city. Then finish my night off with a glass of Merlot and some beats to write to.
Z - Have you ever experienced criticism? If yes, how did you handle it? P - I feel like the whole modelling industry comes with
criticism, which I don’t mind. You learn a lot from critics. I just embrace it.
Z - Was it hard for you to break into the modelling industry? P - To be honest, not really. I was scouted at a bus stop
outside of my condo. From there I won top 15 in an Elle Canada competition and then met my agents the next week. The rest has been a blessing.
Z - Where do you see yourself in 5years from now (career-wise)? P - A household name. Somewhere working on World Peace
Z - What would you say to a young Rwandan girl who wants to pursue the same career path? P - First, ask yourself if you can deal with rejection. You
will see a lot of it on the journey. Second, believe in your vision. You can do what you put your mind to. Third, work out, stay healthy, and study the greats. I always think “what would naomi Campbell do?”
Z - Modelling is tough and stress full at times, what motivates you to keep going? P - My vision. I’ve had this vision for a while and I’ve
seen parts of it come to life. Of course I have my ups and downs, but the mission is always my number 1 priority.
Z - Say one thing that most people do not know about you? P - There’s a lot. I’m not really an open book when it
comes to my outer circle. But, I do love to create music. Not a lot of people know this now, but they will soon
Z - What are some short/long term goals you have for yourself? P - Short term goal is to get signed in either NY, LA, or
London. Long term goal is to see my vision come to life. Move back home, and live my best life in the motherland.
Z - How do you manage your time? P - I have terrible time management. My calendar saves my life daily. Coffee helps me stay motivated, and my friends keep me on task.
Z - Do you have any modelling agency? P - I’m signed here in Toronto to Ciotti Models. I have a
mother agent by the name of Chantale Nadeau. And Im with Loys Models in Cape Town
Z - Any last words? P - If there’s anyone who is looking to pursue their dream
career, whether it be modelling or anything really, know that with the right motivation and practice, you can do it. I started with nothing but a dream. I still have a very long way to go. But trust your process, believe in your blessings, and live your best life.
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ABOUT US Why You Need to Tell Your Story to the world Who are you? I bet you have a story to tell. Will you tell it? What would be the cost to you in your life if you choose not to tell your story? What would you like to share with the people who know you- and those who don’t?
WHO ARE WE ? We are an online magazine providing space for the youth to create and share their stories through art. It is important that we see ourselves in these spaces, showing that we do exist and we’re not going anywhere not only for ourselves but, for the future generations to come.
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