“Grief never stopped his groove.”
Every boy from Muhima has a dream.
But not every boy starts selling at eight years old.
Not every boy becomes a millionaire at fifteen.
Very few boys grow up to face hard times, raise five children alone, build a studio empire in a foreign country, and still find the courage to love again.
This is not a story about music.
Rather, it is a story about a human heart that refused to stop beating.
His name is Emile Nzeyimana also known as Papa Emile.
You may know him as the MD of ATM Studios in Nairobi.
You may know him as the award-winning producer who brought Rwandan and Kenyan artists together.
But you do not know him until you know about Ineza.
However, you will never truly know him until you learn about the day God called her back home. Above all, you definitely will not recognize his strength until you see him smile today talking about his five children, his Liverpool FC, his upcoming wedding, and the beats he still makes every single morning.
Grief never stopped his groove.
After reading this, neither will yours.
Papa Emile whose Grief Never Stopped His Groove, has kept a lot
Emile whose Grief Never Stopped His Groove opens his mouth and the first thing that comes out is not pain.
It is a quiet confidence.
“I was born in Kigali, a place called Muhima, on 28th December 1981. I have five sisters. I grew up as a talented boy in different ways; football, music, acrobatics, and drawing.”
But then he leans in and his voice drops.
“One thing people don’t know about me is that I started business when I was only eight years old. At fifteen, I had my first one million Frws.”
He laughs when he says it. A real laugh. Not the fake one you hear on podcasts.
“Million francs, eh? Not dollars. But still. A boy from Muhima. No father in business. No connections.”
Ineza Parfine (Tomato), Five Babies, and a Love Story
His teenage heart fell for a girl named Ineza Parfine.
He called her Tomato.
“She was beautiful. Not just outside. Inside too. She believed in me when I had nothing but dreams.”
They married. They made a home. They made five children, three boys, two girls.
“God blessed us,” he says. “I was the richest man in Kigali. Not because of money. Because of them.”
For years, that was his life.
Studio during the day. Dad at night. Husband always.
But then 2023 arrived.
The Day God Called Her Back
Emile does not cry when he says this.
He does not look away.
He just breathes.
“Three years ago, God decided to take back my wife Ineza.”
No details. No drama.
Instead, there is just the quiet truth of a man who has learned that some doors close forever…”
“I did not stop working. What would that teach my sons? That when life hurts, you quit? No.”
So he kept waking up. Every morning, Emile went to the studio. Meanwhile, Papa Emile kept posting football. Above all, he never stopped being Dad.o he kept waking up.
“Grief never stopped his groove,” I write in my notebook as a journalist.
Emile sees it. He nods.
“That’s good. Write that.”
Jessica Walked In Papa Emile’s life whose Grief Never Stopped His Groove
Five years ago, before Ineza passed, Emile met a woman at work. Her name is Jessica Amani Chokwe. Initially, they were just friends and colleagues, nothing more.”
“She saw me as a human being,” he recalls. “Not as a producer. Not as a brand. Just Emile.”
Over time, that friendship became something warmer.
“We decided to take it to another level,” he says, now smiling. “Our wedding is soon. So be ready for the invitation.”
Interestingly, Papa Emile does not say ‘I moved on.’ Instead, he says ‘I moved forward.’ In his view, there is a real difference between those two phrases. As he puts it, that difference is called healing.
Why He Left Rwanda (And Why Rwanda Never Left Him)
In 2009, Papa Emile packed his bags and left Kigali for Nairobi
However, Emile shakes his head.
“Nairobi was my dream city. The way boys grow up having cities they love, that’s Nairobi for me. Coming to Kenya was expansion. Not escape.”
Fifteen years later, he is the MD of ATM Studios.
Emile has worked with many Rwandan artists. Consequently, he has built a bridge between two music industries that used to ignore each other.
“I am proud that I am one of the reasons why it’s like this now,” he says quietly.
No arrogance. Just fact.
Football, Sons, and Liverpool (Because Life Cannot Be All Pain)
Emile sits up. Then he smiles wide. Suddenly, he becomes a teenager again.
“I am a football parent. All of my sons are footballers. We are a family that loves football.”
His team? Liverpool.
“In the future, I will have my own football team. I swear.”
I ask him: “Football or music, which one has betrayed you more?”
He laughs so hard other people in the cafe look at us.
“None of them! How can they betray me? They saved me.”
And that is when you understand.
Emile Nzeyimana does not see himself as a victim. Instead, he sees himself as a man who has been given many gifts and he refuses to waste a single one.
The Awards, The Beats, and The Artists Who Owe Him
That was the year he won the Mwafaka Award for Best Producer of the Year 2011-2012.
His first. And still the one that hangs in his heart.
“Awards are many,” he says, “and I am still winning. But that one… that one was special.”
When I ask how much he charges for a beat, he simply shrugs.
“It depends on the project. Any music I did for pay? I got my pay.”
Not everyone can say that but he can.
Emile whose Grief Never Stopped His Groove, The Question No One Asks
At the end, I close my notebook and turn to him.
“Emile,” I ask, “what question have I not asked you today? What do you wish the world knew?”
Without hesitation, he answers.
Papa Emile does not check his phone. He does not look away.
Instead, he simply speaks.
“All I am today is the result of a step I took when I was young. I decided to follow Jesus Christ. He became my life.”
Then he adds: “Blessings, my brother.”
Honestly, this article was never about music.
It is about a Rwandan man who made Kenya his home yet never forgot Muhima.
Above all, it is about a father, a fiancé, a Liverpool fan, a producer, and a follower of Jesus. And despite everything, he still laughs genuinely laughs.
So now, I speak directly to the Grammy organizers, BET, AFRIMA, Trace TV, OkayAfrica, and every global platform that claims to celebrate African excellence: Emile Nzeyimana, also known as Papa Emile is ready for his close-up.
To Kenyan artists who have recorded at ATM Studios: speak his name.
And to Rwandan musicians who respect him: stand with him publicly.
For every creative in East Africa, this is what resilience looks like.
Finally, to Jessica Amani Chokwe his soon-to-be wife: You are writing a new verse. And the whole world is listening.
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African producers deserve global awards. Love can come more than once. Football and music can save a man’s life And a boy from Muhima can become a legend.
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