Hey there…here’s a fun fact: Namibians hate themselves. I know…unsolicited much? What’s that age-old saying…”truth hurts”? However, in this case…I don’t think the truth hurts. 

Whoever this truth applies to…is actually quite comfortable with the truth. That’s my honest assessment. Whoever this truth applies to is quite comfortable in their hate for themselves as Namibians. Everything we do as Namibians literally suggests the latter. Why would my assessment be anything but the conclusion?

A recent April fool’s joke by another newspaper brand exposed and solidified my conclusion. Once again… Namibians love everything except being Namibian. For context, the joke implied that NASCAM has paid over N$100 million over the past 35 years in music royalties but only 0.5% reached Namibian artists. 

The paper added that the remaining funds were distributed primarily to musicians from the United States, Nigeria, and South Africa. 

This may have been the joke…but once again, what’s the age-old saying? “Every joke has some form of truth in it”. The amount may have been a joke and false. However, everything else about that April fool’s joke is actually the truth. 

A majority of music royalties do get paid to international acts. That’s the bottom line, for the longest time, radio stations have had to bear the brunt of this reality. Blame was always placed on Namibian radio for not playing “enough” Namibian music. I have always disagreed with this narrow assessment. 

My thoughts were always that radio stations simply respond to what people want. They simply playlist what Namibians want to hear. The naked truth is this… Namibians DO NOT WANT TO HEAR OR CONSUME NAMIBIAN MUSIC.     

“Truth hurts” right? However, …once again, I don’t think the truth hurts. It may hurt Namibian artists’ ego. However, for Namibians themselves…it really is not that deep. DJ Paulo, a 20-plus veteran in one of our candid conversations, narrated a story in which revellers demanded he changes the music to piano and afro beats on the eve of Independence Day at a local club in Windhoek. He thought that he could do a Namibian set, seeing that it was Independence Day. 

He got a rude awakening when, 10 minutes into his Namibian set…he was unceremoniously told by revellers to change the music. Seeing that he does what he does for the pleasure of the audience…he changed the music. He played everything but Namibian music for the rest of the evening. 

Here’s the kicker…according to DJ Paulo, not one person came to him to complain that he was playing too much foreign music and that he should at least add a few Namibian songs. He played the whole night.  

What does that tell you? The truth that I’ve been repeating throughout your reading so far. That Namibians cannot stomach their own identity and feel far much more comfortable identifying as South Africans or other people. “Truth hurts”, right? Again…in this case, I don’t think the truth hurts. Whoever this truth applies to is quite comfortable in their hate for themselves. 

The time to be delicate, diplomatic and kwaito dance around this phenomenon is long gone. We are at the stage where we need to call a spade a spade. That April fool’s joke clearly suggests the latter. 

There is hope though. For the first time since we were declared a sovereign state…we now have political willpower. Last week I dedicated this column to our fifth president and first female president of the republic. Her administration has promised a N$2 billion injection into the arts and creative industry over a period of five years. 

Hopefully, this injection will go a long way in professionalising the industry but also in healing Namibians from their trauma of identifying as Namibians. I so rest my case.

On that note, the podcast version of Industry Loop is up and running. Check out the latest episode featuring the founder of Mad Boy Genius, Reyne Liswaniso. This man sits with close to two decades’ worth of wisdom and knowledge about this industry. 

Check it out on YouTube on the biggest newspaper brand’s platform, New Era LIVE. Enjoy it. Share your thoughts on the episode using the hashtag #IndustryLoop.

Until the next Loop, we say #GMTM 

To advertise on the podcast…email slunyangwe@nepc.com.na.com for a quote.