WINDHOEK – Kwaito singer, Eric Sell (better known as EES) has been forced to seek funding to release his album after Sony Germany let him down.
The winner of X-Factor Germany last year clinched a record deal with Sony Germany that included producing, marketing, publishing and releasing his new album.
However, in the end, the giant label delayed his project, forcing the 2009 Namibian Music Awards Artist of the year to launch a crowd funding campaign to raise funds to release his 14th studio album titled ‘Game Changer’ with an 80-minute film accompanying it. EES told Entertainment Now! The movie will have extracts about the making of my new album. He travelled with some of Germany’s hit music producers throughout Namibia with his producer.
“I’m mixing two cultures in my new songs. This adventure shows how we are all human and have the same love for music no matter where we are from – and that we all have the same instruments to make music – but our culture just makes us play the instrument a little different and that is what makes everybody special in his way,” he explained.
So far, EES has raised 93% of the funding for the new album project in the first 10 days of the campaign.
“People from all over Europe ‑ Germany, Luxemburg, Switzerland ‑ everywhere have supported me to make this dream a reality and not be dependent on a major record label. Even support from Namibia has been well-received,” he said enthusiastically.
The budding entrepreneur also announced that all digital sales for the first year would go towards a rhino foundation to help stop poaching in the country.
The two projects are set to drop in April 2020 and plans to have a similar big release like any other record label.
EES assured this reporter that the 17-track album would make people change the way they think about African music.