Reading about Dolar Yves and how the musician made a conscious effort to create awareness around albinism really got me in my feelings recently. It got me in my feels for several reasons. Firstly, who is Dolar Yves and why haven’t I ever heard of the musician? Secondly, what are other more recognisable music brands doing to counter any form of destitution in the country?
If Dolar Yves can do it, why can’t you? You have gigs every weekend? You have multiple gigs in one night? You have endorsements? You have brand merchandise commercially available? Sometimes, as entertainers, we forget about the most destitute of society.
As entertainers, we tend to focus on the able-bodied. Entertainers seem to forget that the marginalised too would like to be entertained. We rarely think about the deaf. Why is it that we are so distant from the societal realities of this nature? Entertainment is but all they could have to keep them going.
Imagine moving in a direction where we release albums for the hearing impaired? Imagine the commercial viability of such a project! Statistics show we had 25 000 hearing impaired people by 2014. That number ought to be a little higher by now. Imagine the possibilities in that market? Or how about we release braille books? There’s a lot of upcoming and established authors releasing books these days. Imagine having a braille version of your book available commercially!
The possibilities are endless. We need to start integrating the unable into the norms of society. It should start with entertainment and arts! Arts has long been a tool to raise the volume of dampened voices of society. The arts community should be at the forefront of this.
You cannot also argue with the commercial viability of exploring that market. All you need is innovation and a marketing strategy, then you are set. Honestly, I never heard of Dolar Yves before I read about his work in creating awareness about albinism. If next time Dolar Yves releases a song…I might give him the day and time.
Having that element to your brand just adds a different dimension to your shine. People get to see the human side of you. The human side that actually cares for the next person. Not these fame-chasing bloodsuckers!
The next time we plan our shows or write our material…let’s think about the most destitute. Think about how your work can reach the hearing impaired. Ask yourself this, what is it that I can do to make sure the visually impaired still get to enjoy my work? What can I do to make sure any form of destitution does not alter my reach?
Until the next loop, we say “GMTM”!
NSK is a professional MC. For bookings, email naobebsekind@gmail.com
@naobebsekind (twitter)