I honestly feel that Namibians are too hard on her Entertainers. How do you expect us to live out our art through your rules and perceptions? What am I talking about? Allow me to explain.
In Namibia you are only an Entertainer if you live within the confines of society’s rules and perceptions. According to these perceptions and rules, being an Entertainer involves only two things. Either we are “arrogant” or “humble. If you come across as “humble”, every Seelima, Taniku and Simoni wants to take advantage of you. When you are humble people tend to mistake that for “cheapness” or “affordability”. This results in people doubling down on your asking price and compromising on your demands.
Flip the coin and be “arrogant” and people tend to mistake your stature for “expensive” and “high maintenance”. This results in either people refusing to work with you, book you or fans simply shy away from supporting you because…well you’ve made it in life mos.
Both of these notions are incredibly harsh and unfair. Entertainers are a special breed of people. These are people with the genuine ability to make you feel good in any type of setting. If this is true, then surely we must learn to treat Entertainers better, right?
I have entertained thousands over the years on almost every major stage in this country, and take my word for this…entertainers get a raw deal. Entertainers are now sitting with a dilemma of, if I am too friendly they will take advantage of my kindness and would want to look at it as an opportunity for me to back down on my asking price or demands. If I am too arrogant or demanding, I run the risk of alienating myself from future gigs and prospective fans.
I really wonder if professionals from other sectors face the same dilemma. It can’t be. You walk into a General Practitioners office and you get a fee and you pay. There’s no story of humble or arrogance there. You walk into Shoprite and you pay for what Shoprite told you is the price of bread. No humble or arrogance there.
If that is the case with other sectors, why are we being measured by our humbleness or arrogance? Can I do the job that you want me to do? Yes. Do I have a credible track record of doing the job that you want me to do? Yes. Do I have relevance to the market you want me to entertain? Yes. Than accept my asking price and settle it! No arrogance or humble factor!
Until the next loop, we say “GMTM”!
Song of the week: Stella: Nothing without you
Flop of the week: 4×4 Too Much Power:
Disappointed
NSK is a professional MC. For bookings,
email naobebsekind@gmail.com
@naobebsekind (twitter)