DBS road show, boot camp celebrate emerging talent
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Monday February 13, 2023 16:00
Addressing the gathering, Thato Sikwane also famed as DJ Fresh from Big Dawg Production, said Botswana possessed immense raw talent that needs to be discovered and polished for both national and international creative world. He explained that other artists from countries such as Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa and Zimbabwe had already taken space in the international music industry thereby got recognition beyond their boarders. He further called on local artists not to sell their brands short but rather spread their wings.
DJ Fresh urged the artists to take advantage of being Batswana saying Batswana are known internationally as people with a high level of humility. He said remaining true to himself enabled him to work for 27 years in South Africa because he was set apart from other artists. “It is a privilege for trusting me with this event as a creative talent to empower fellow creative talents about our craft. We travelled across the country searching for talent. We have a big, beautiful, hot and dusty country but above all we have amazing talent. The fact that you are raised in Botswana and born here must set you apart because we are known to have humility. Botswana jwa gago is your super power. Let’s promote our country without being apologetic about it,” he said. DJ Fresh also highlighted that even though they could not choose all contestants from the over 900 they worked with country wide, only 30 made it to the boot camp and were eligible for the awards. He explained that they worked with very talented individuals who amongst them was a seven-year old guitarist from Mahalapye called Frank whom they will find a mentor to make sure he does well academically whilst paving his music career. He added that they also had a 17-year-old self-taught producer who taught himself production two years back during lockdown. He added that the young producer already worked with other producers in South Africa and is in demand.
He added that they had a very talented 10-year-old rapper who also had a promising future in the entertainment industry. “The reason why these children are in our boot camp is to inspire parents to support their children’s talents as long as their academics do not suffer. Talent is their passion and it feeds their souls. I always tell my artists to give a 100% to their craft whether people see them or not. We have taken in Apollo D and Phologolo to give them a second chance in the industry. Since they have grown and fallen in the industry, we believe they are more experienced and can teach upcoming artists about the dos and don’ts of this industry,” DJ Fresh said.
He added that through that project, they hired 19 permanent staff, engaged over 700 creatives from various fields from artists, graphic designers, public relations, photographers and others who got paid 55% from the budget they were given. He also said they spent 22% of the budget in the tourism sector were they paid lodges and hotels and some of the money in their budget to pay transport and telephones. For his part, the Minister for State President, Kabo Morwaeng said the awards were held to honour and celebrate the country’s rich creative talent. He said the journey started last year when the DBS in collaboration with Big Dawg Productions covered more than 50 places both townships and villages, worked with over 900 artists where 30 made it and were selected for recognition through the awards. He added that their objective was to groom raw talent into tomorrow’s talent that sells the country to the international market. “We also conducted 17 workshops to polish their creativity and ensure they are market ready. They had an opportunity to be guided on issues of branding an image, usage of social media for content creations and marketing and how to monitise their brands. We are here to make money for the country in the near future through creativity. Through this project we discovered there is immense talent in the country and more,” he said.
Meanwhile, President Mokgweetsi Masisi said they were celebrating the best of the country’s emerging talent which was not coincidental because it was part of their stated purpose of his government to promote, support, and deliberately invest in the creative industry. “This is a trillion-dollar industry globally, through which many people’s livelihoods are sustained, as the creatives trade the works of their creativity to provide boundless joy to our souls in various genre of music and dance, as well as through films. The talent demonstrated by our young people gives us confidence that success is achievable. After all, we already have exports in the creative sector,” he said.
The groups that scored themselves awards include Team 75K who scooped Best Team Work award, Motshitshi with Best Styled Group, Best Rising Star Award was scooped by Ketso, Magdah and Frank, Artist Award scooped by Pono and many more.