Veteran afro-pop artist and one of the highly celebrated artists from back in the day, Killa-B, reminisced on how things used to be in their heydays, saying: “In our days, we had unity and real music was made.”
The ‘Eliko’ singer, who took a break from the music industry, had a brief chat with Entertainment Now! about how the industry has sort of lost its momentum, which he said it’s due to the lack of brotherhood. “The industry has changed completely, compared to the times when we were the talk of the town. Despite modern developments like social media platforms, the public truly enjoyed and supported a day out to a local music concert or show. We don’t have that unity, respect and focus we had back then,” said the legendary artist.
Real name Kiljon Ngweda, Killa-B, acknowledged the effort producers used to put in creatively to compose major hits with staying power to great classics like his songs, Eliko and the Takusapeles.
He said, nowadays, artists are lured by fly-by-night managers and phoney promoters who promise heaven and earth for a quick buck.
Throughout history, the greatest artists are known to be those that master the art of music and pass on the knowledge to those below them, a legacy Killa-B is willing to leave on.
Talking like he’s schooling new generation artists, Killa-B said: “A lot of new artists are gimmicks, they do not use lyrics of a family listenership and they do not rehearse to command stage presence; thus, shows are very weak because of a lack of discipline.”
Emphasising more on favouritism, he said music promoters and event organisers contributed to the damage of the music scene by booking and promoting the same artists without considering others.
“Most of these promoters have labels and they are the same people on national music committees and festival organisers. This must come to an end; it is unfair,” he commanded, further saying there is also favouritism when it comes to playing music on tv and radio.
“How are we supposed to grow as a nation?” he questioned, adding that those who are at the forefront of music must groom, support and nurture new talent. He is also against the culture of promoting foreign genres such as amapiano, qgom and Nigerian music more than they do their own.
“Namibian music royalties are peanuts, compared to the time, money and effort artists invest in their productions, so Nascam needs to change and increase the fees. Jukeboxes are robbing us with this mp3 system and we will soon carry every jukebox doing this out of their bars by any means necessary because we are really tired,” complained Killa-B, adding that music is supposed to feed them and feed the nation.
Despite loopholes here and there, Killa-B also acknowledged the new artists’ talent and creativity, saying: “They are doing a great job but they need to become more original, so instead of directly copying foreign genres, they should take calculated musical risks when it comes to productions to start creating true Namibian inspired works.”
“Let us create as much content for media to promote and spread our music as far as possible across the whole world. For those musicians and all other artists who feel left out and pushed aside, keep doing what you do best; be vocal – complain because the time is now to make serious changes,” he concluded.
ashikololo@nepc.com.na
Legend… Veteran artist Killa-B
Photo: Contributed