Multi-Award winning artiste “Slapdee” took sometime to explain to fan on the prospect of a Zambian artiste Winning a Grammy Award. This came after the rapper congratulated Nigerian superstars Burna Boy and Wizkid on their Grammy wins.
Slapdee‘s congratulatory post attracted much attention from amongst his followers who decided to air their views and congratulatory messages. Among the comments was a named Facebook user who articulated why its difficult for Zambian music to flourish like Nigerian music. Below is what he posted;
“Slapdee you are among the few Zambian musicians that have really tried for Zambia, and I really respect you alot.
However, what has made most of the Zambian artists not to go international is failure to identify the market. If you want to thrive in the music industry in Africa associate yourself with Nigerian and South African artists. The entertainment industry there is much serious and they have the numbers. I understand it’s expensive to feature these guys but when you have that chance make sure you nail it. Do your best to leave a mark unlike wasting money on a collaboration that won’t sell.
When you feature these most happening African artists, ensure you write a nice song that will shake the continent not just anything for the sake of featuring. Recently, I have been disappointed with the wack songs most Zambians have been doing with international artists. We Respect your efforts anyway, but much has to be done.
We must also understand that population matters, nigerians manage to get a million views on YouTube in less than 24hrs because they are many in population, so the more you feature them the more you gain recognition internationally but when you feature Davido, Wizkid or whoever, ensure it’s a nice song.“
This prompted Slapdee to respond to the comment to explain further why Zambian music is still struggling in many ways. Check out his response below;
“Legoni Lax Just a quick response to your two points. Market identification: The two giants have identified themselves as giants and have embraced it. They understand that the one thing they have that other regions may not have is numbers. They will protect their status to any extent such that any other giant wanting to come up must feel their weight. You must suffer blood and bone to get in their circle. One such example would be Diamond from TZ or Fally from Congo. How do they do this? Make their collabo fees super high, make their circle tighter by only embracing their own and many other industry tricks. You must earn a spot in their industry!Why don’t you hear of other regions or countries doing such, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Namibia or Angola?
Good song: What you would consider a good song in Botswana May not ba good in SA or Malawi. You cannot tell someone what a good song is because music is broad. It’s not a car or house that’s visible to the eye. It’s based on preference and taste. Even locally, we have different types of music for different types of people which is where the problem starts. Some may want a song “with a message” while some just want “turn up” music. It takes a skilled artist to find the bridge.
All in all, you will continue to see negative in your artist as long as you look for it. We are far from perfect. Buying power is tiny, economy is not the best and generally just a growing industry. Embrace yours with the little they have achieved. Try not compare with giants.”
