MBABANE – Eswatini arts industry players came together for a productive and enlightening experience at the Creativity Workshop with Sjava, Ruff, and Nothando.
Sjava is world renowned South African singer, rapper, and actor. His accolades include South African Music Awards, a BET award, and a DSTV Mzansi Viewer’s Choice award, amongst others. However, as Sjava put it during the workshop, his most important feedback is what people who listen to his music have to say. Sjava was at 23:28 in Mbabane on the 28th and 29th of June to conduct what he admitted to be his first ever Creativity Workshop.
The workshop was conducted by very experienced and skilled individuals to say the least. Sjava, real name Jabulani Hadebe, was accompanied by Mfanafuthi “Ruff” Nkosi and Nothando Migogo, who are partners in his record label 1020 Cartel. Ruff is an award winning producer who’s curated music for Emtee and Blaq Diamond amongst others. He is also co-founder of 1020 Cartel with his long-time friend and collaborator Sjava. Nothando is Executive Director at 1020 Group of Companies. She has worked as CEO for Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO), Composers, Authors and Publishers Association (CAPASSO), and as Director for Copyright Clearance Centre, among other related organizations.
The workshop covered topics of the industry and the art, including music production, intellectual property security, monetization, management, and mental health. The morale of the workshop seemed to revolve around having a good reason to be in the arts, believing in each other, and collaborating as the different players in the game.
Speaking during the first day of the workshop, Sjava said that “Music is something I’ve been doing all my life, but It was only 2016 whereby I released music professionally where people could buy and it’s something I do commercially. I was 33 at the time. It was not easy, you know, it’s something that needs you to have patience. It’s something that needs you to know why you’re doing it. Because what happens nowadays is that people are exposed to the daily lives of artists. Back then you wouldn’t know what Phuzekhemisi was eating, driving, wearing, doing and how he was living – you could only listen to the music and its function from there. It got to a point when these phones came along, where you could see how artists are living. This shifted the inspiration from being the art to being about the lifestyle – whereby people you may be at home thinking “if I make music I can live like that. Now you’re making music for the lifestyle, not for the love or a good reason for making music. It doesn’t work like that.”
Ruff also echoed Sjava’s sentiment when he said “We don’t go in to make a song that’s going to be a hit. We just make songs, and when we release, it’s the people who decide if it’s good or bad.”
He went on to say that “We’re lucky we haven’t made bad songs, or maybe its because of the way we approach the process, which is seriously. For example, there’s a song that we just completed last week, and we started recording it in 2019. It might even happen that now that the song is complete, it doesn’t make it into an album. So, its about how you take it – how you take the music is how you end up with very a perfect product or something that’s bad. I’m lucky because Sjava and I think alike, we don’t waste time and we’re always focusing more on perfecting the art than releasing hits.”
The musical duo emphasized the importance of letting each person play their role in creating the perfect product for the people. They also emphasized the importance of trusting the need for business management around the art and trusting the business managers to explain and make the best business decisions for the art. Nothando Migogo, the Executive Director of 1020 Cartel, also shared expansive knowledge about the industry in the Southern African context, as well as shared ideas on how local artists can leverage the Government to encourage a setting up of the proper infrastructure for intellectual property protection, radio monitoring, and royalty collection.
Local industry players who were present during the workshop included artists like Qibho Intalektual, Velemseni, Mvelo, Alex Muti, Sarnilo, Velefini, Celumusa, B-Sim, K-Darrow, Ncwiki Flexiano, Illa Penboy, Velefini, King Terry and Mandisa Mamba. They also included other players in media, artist management, and the copyright association of Eswatini.
The workshop ran for the whole day on Tuesday and for half of Wednesday, as moderated by Doctor P. It was punctuated by an Open Mic Jam Session headlined by 1020 Cartel artist Nue-Sam which lasted until midnight. It was organised by New Life Entertainment, 23:28, 1020 Cartel, and the Eswatini National Arts Council. Sjava, Ruff, and Nothando interacted with workshop participants and show attendants throughout the two days they were in Eswatini.
