Eric Ngangare alias Eric One Key is a poet, musician, actor, rapper and a blogger, all rolled into one.

This multi-talented side of him was in full bloom at a recent event dubbed Expericment 3.0, held on July 8 at the Manor Hotel in Kigali. The show was a dedication to women, from whom Ngangare draws immense inspiration. And he gave the first half of the show to the female artists to express themselves.

The event was a dish of sequential, rich, presentations with a fusion of live acts like music, poetry and creative dance.

The setting was a unique stage, like a living room, with a sofa set in the centre, where Ngangare sat to take his audience through scenes of several couples’ journeys —to and out of love commitments.

The lyrical passions by two lovers, then the rage of conflict among some couples.

Ngarage’s creativity is overwhelming. He takes the crowd by surprise. For instance, the microphone stand decorated with a pair of knickers raises the audience’s eyebrows, yet keeps them in anticipation of what this show holds.

Collabos were aplenty with female talents who included Angel Mutoni, Natacha Muzira, Mpinga Y’a Mugema, Lamel Shaw, Dope Gurl, while the four-man band is led by Ricky Password.

Sexophone, a presentation by Dope Gurl, back up by Akua Naru’s music is a journey of love between two young hearts done in English with the piano keys backing up the piece Te Manquer featured Murphy and Ngangare on the vocals Abdoul Mujyambere rendition over with Cheryl performing a creative dance.

Monde Parallèle was another in which he featured poet Natacha Muzira. It’s a blend of Afro Soul, R&B, Rap, rhythmic lyrics and band sounds, with most presentations seductively alluring in narration, and catching the audience off guard and into suspense.

This show comes after two others: Expericment 1 dubbed “The Evolution of the Artist” held in March, which introduced us to him telling his story through music, poetry and fashion, while Expericment 2.0, “The Evolution of the Storyteller” held in May showcased the “Pan Africanism of the artiste.”

His presentation Histoire, histoires..., a French poem, is a storyteller’s narration of Rwanda’s ancient times leading to the introduction of Christianity, colonialism to the present day.

Ngangare presents the poem as a barely dressed Stone Age men, but with both arms tied as a slave. And as he narrates this piece, with agony, the humming voice of Rosette Karimba fills the background.

According to Ngangare, creating methods and techniques of live performances in such a way that both the performer and the audience have a great time is all he aims for, as he is trying to answer the question “Can an artiste live from his art in present Rwanda?”

His first show, off the Expericment series was free, provided one purchased his latest album from Amazon, Spotify, Nilekast, which are all online music stores.

The shows have been a learning platform to him, “It’s about sharing the little space that I have with great talents — young men and women — who work hard in the dark but haven’t been exposed to the spotlight,” he said.

The major challenge is lack of sponsorship, which has prompted him to dig deeper into his pockets to fund himself.

Following this, will be the Expericment finale, which he desires to be a hip hop underground show fusing B-boying, deejaying, graffiti and painting acts, then after the O-Pen Project, an initiative that aims at encouraging the youth in secondary education to write will proceed.