Paheja Siririka
WINDHOEK – Matongo Family, comprising Strauss Lunyangwe (Stravo aka Mr Makoya), Arthur Nanub (Damara Dik Ding) and Themba Matongo, has been in the music industry for more than two decades.
“With the ups and downs, the group has been together for 21 years,” said Mr Makoya.
The trio got funs grooving to songs such as ‘Manuva’, ‘Zumuzuve’ featuring Big Ben, ‘My Everything’, ‘Chicka Mama’, ‘Koess’ featuring Zanele from South Africa and many other odes.
Regarding the type of music they do, the three said they are all about doing music that is appealing to everybody. “We like mixing different elements to our music which is sometimes a little bit complex to categorise in the end. I would rather just call it feel good music that captivates the Namibian sound because of our different backgrounds,” said Mr Makoya.
Matongo said they never had a specific genre. “We were just doing music, it was different and that made us stand out,” he said. “I would like to call it 100 percent Namibian music and nothing more,” said Damara Dik Ding.
Having established their own label, Family Affairs, which deals with everything administration related, the influences of their sound is custom made, according to Damara Dik Ding. The band was formed in 1998 with the main intention or purpose of making music.
“We always had that musical background, as we were dancers before so we gradually matured to being musicians,” said Mr Makoya, who said they were all neighbours in Wanaheda and that is how they met.
“We used to hear DDD (Damara Dik Ding) always play hip-hop music from his place. I guess this thing called universal language ‘music’ drew us together and, as they say, the rest is history. The time we have spent together would be around 24 years to date,” detailed Mr Makoya.
The trio is in charge of writing songs in the group. “We know ourselves, we know our struggles, and we grew up together. There is a compilation of ideas and we sit down and decide on the way forward, collectively,” said Themba.
He made reference to the song called ‘Manuva’. “That song is dedicated to a friend of ours. He was the only one working and at month ends, we would go to him and say get your pay and let’s go. That’s how we mostly write about things we go through in life,” he said.
The trio, who each has a solo career, as Matongo Family, released three albums. Their first album titled ‘Miester’ was released in 2004, then ‘Sunrise’ and recently ‘Encore’, which they released last year.
Matongo said they are not affiliated to any music organisation. “We are not affiliated to any apart from NASCAM,” said Matongo.
On the other hand, Mr Makoya has a label of his own. “TuraStyle Media is owned by my wife and I. We are members of NASCAM,” said Mr Makoya. Under the media house, Mr Makoya has released three albums of his own.
The status of music in Namibia seems to be growing, according to the trio. “The music being produced is good but the growth is not yet there, we still have to think outside the box,” said Mr Makoya.
He further said there is always enough space in the industry for everyone.
“It would be nice if corporate Namibia would not invest in some but open the net a little bit wider because the potential is there, ”said the trio.
Matongo Family advices fellow Namibian artists to use social media to their advantage and cautioned that the corporates are watching. “Public opinion will always be there, you should just have a thick skin for the good and the bad that comes with it. Like they say, this industry is not for the faint hearted. You can lose yourself along the way. We are lucky we have stood the test of time because this industry has opened up many doors for us. Even though we are still knocking on some,” they said. “These days people will do anything for numbers or for fame, therefore, one should be careful so that if you look back one day, you don’t shame yourself,” they cautioned.
In the meantime, check out Matongo Family’s latest track ‘Let’s Go’ featuring Maszanga and the popular ‘Kashe’, a house track that will get you dancing like nobody is watching, especially on a Friday such as this one.