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Bizimungu Dieudonne - Inzovu Y'Imirindi
In the late 1980s, singer Bizimungu Diudonne, his wife Agnes Umbibizi, and a backing band of family and friends self-released a visionary cassette, featuring stuttering electric guitars, loping bass lines, and call and response vocals.
Their combo of 80s studio wizardry rooted in traditional Rwandan praise songs resulted in hypnotic, extended jams unlike anything else released in East Africa at the time. The lyrics praised the beauty of the countryside and the exploits of the ancient gods. On plaintive acoustic tracks squeezed between the electric bangers, Bizimungu and Agnes called for unity in the divided nation.
Their message was an eerie presaging of the coming Rwandan Genocide, which tragically tooke the lives of all members of the group. Bizimungu and Agnes were both killed by Hutu militias in 1994. Their music, popular across the region, was largely forgotten in the ensuing decades.
We first heard this album through music scholar Matthew Lavoie in 2018, and spent years looking for any surviving members of the band. Last year, co-producer and Voice of America host Jackson Mvunganyi tracked down Bizimungu and Agnes’ daughter, Noella, in Kigali. Only 8 years old at the time of her parents’ death, she had taken... more
credits
releases November 14, 2025
Guitar and vocals by BIZIMUNGU DIEUDONNE
Vocals by AGNES UWIMBABAZI
Additional guitar by KAGAMBAGE ALEXANDRE
Additional Vocals and Dancing by BIGIRIMANA AUGUSTIN, NIYONGAMIJE EMMANUEL
Drums by IRANGA
Produced by UWIMANA
Reissue produced by Jackson Mvunganyi and Cyrus Moussavi
Co-produced by Noella Marie Akayezu
Audio mastering by Jordan McLeod at Osiris Studios, Nashville, TN
Lacquer cut by Adam Gonsalves
Lyric translation by Derrick Ndushabandi and Jackson Mvunganyi
Additional lyric translation on A1 & A3 by Scholastique Mukasonga
Liner notes design and label management by Sam Wenc
Graphic production by Dan Fried
Licensing by Adam Holofcener
Special thanks:
Noella Marie Akayezu for her bravery in telling this story
Scholastique Mukasonga for her novels, memoirs, and "paper graves," which should be read by everyone
Matthew Lavoie for his research and early championing of this music, which made this album possible
In the late 1980s, singer Bizimungu Diudonne, his wife Agnes Umbibizi, and a backing band of family and friends self-released a visionary cassette, featuring stuttering electric guitars, loping bass lines, and call and response vocals.
Their combo of 80s studio wizardry rooted in traditional Rwandan praise songs resulted in hypnotic, extended jams unlike anything else released in East Africa at the time. The lyrics praised the beauty of the countryside and the exploits of the ancient gods. On plaintive acoustic tracks squeezed between the electric bangers, Bizimungu and Agnes called for unity in the divided nation.
Their message was an eerie presaging of the coming Rwandan Genocide, which tragically tooke the lives of all members of the group. Bizimungu and Agnes were both killed by Hutu militias in 1994. Their music, popular across the region, was largely forgotten in the ensuing decades.
We first heard this album through music scholar Matthew Lavoie in 2018, and spent years looking for any surviving members of the band. Last year, co-producer and Voice of America host Jackson Mvunganyi tracked down Bizimungu and Agnes’ daughter, Noella, in Kigali. Only 8 years old at the time of her parents’ death, she had taken... more
credits
releases November 14, 2025
Guitar and vocals by BIZIMUNGU DIEUDONNE
Vocals by AGNES UWIMBABAZI
Additional guitar by KAGAMBAGE ALEXANDRE
Additional Vocals and Dancing by BIGIRIMANA AUGUSTIN, NIYONGAMIJE EMMANUEL
Drums by IRANGA
Produced by UWIMANA
Reissue produced by Jackson Mvunganyi and Cyrus Moussavi
Co-produced by Noella Marie Akayezu
Audio mastering by Jordan McLeod at Osiris Studios, Nashville, TN
Lacquer cut by Adam Gonsalves
Lyric translation by Derrick Ndushabandi and Jackson Mvunganyi
Additional lyric translation on A1 & A3 by Scholastique Mukasonga
Liner notes design and label management by Sam Wenc
Graphic production by Dan Fried
Licensing by Adam Holofcener
Special thanks:
Noella Marie Akayezu for her bravery in telling this story
Scholastique Mukasonga for her novels, memoirs, and "paper graves," which should be read by everyone
Matthew Lavoie for his research and early championing of this music, which made this album possible