Namibian Music And Thugs

ALLOW me space to express myself on the state of our music industry.

For a couple of years now, there has been a lot of optimism that the music industry was on the up and that local music albums were giving South African and international musicians a run for their money. In the light of the above-stated optimism, it is unfortunate that I have to burst our collective bubble and express misgivings about the direction that we heading in.I hope I am wrong in saying that the image of our music industry is slowly and gradually being tarnished by thugs masquerading as supporters of this or the other musician.I refer particularly to an incident on 31 March 2007 at Sam Nujoma Stadium when 41 bands and also artists performed at what was known at the Independence Concert.Everything seemed to have gone well until it was the turn of Lazarus Shiimi, aka Gazza, to do his thing on stage.Initially I thought caps and T-shirts were being tossed to Gazza’s fans but on closer scrutiny, it struck me that some thugs were actually trying to force Gazza off the stage by hurling bottles and cans at him.Gazza tried to act normally but one could sense that he was a bit shaken by the dastardly acts and one song later, he called it a day.Without pointing fingers at any one in particular, I am inclined to suggest that this cowardly act of throwing objects on stage was something that was pre-planned.How else do you explain a group of people, standing in one corner throwing objects simultaneously onto the stage? I refuse to be told that this is an isolated incident.A similar incident took place in Ongwediva about a year ago when another best-selling artist was forced off the stage just as he was about to perform his first song.It is further alleged but yet unconfirmed that a ‘rival’ musician had given orders to a group of thugs to switch off the main supply as soon as that particular artist made it to the stage.There are many other incidents during which some artists have been physically assaulted for being in the territory of one or the other rival artist.We all know that more than two-thirds of the music shows are sponsored by corporate entities who want to see value for their money.No self-respecting business would want to put money into an event that would potentially be a risk to people’s lives.That would by extension be a death knell to Namibian musicians and their aspirations as we all know that only a few really make money through CD sales.The rest depend on live performances while others are lucky to make a living from both.And then you have fistfights and knives and guns brandished at music awards just because some elements expected their favourite artists to walk away with all the awards on offer.In our society, we have elements that have chosen to be allergic to decent behaviour and unfortunately, these thugs have infiltrated the music industry, as tacit employees of some of our artists.If these uncouth and unscrupulous elements continue to sow unrest at music shows, artists could find themselves without income.We all know that a good number of today’s local musicians have dropped out of school and university to concentrate on their music careers.Would they have anything to fall back on if they are so determined to destroy the very same thing that is responsible for putting bread on their tables? It is time for society to address and root out the hooliganism in our music industry.More importantly, musicians themselves, as a collective or as individuals, must stand up and address these actions committed in their names.I do not want to sound alarmist but I must warn that it won’t be long before we see the demise of the music industry or the loss of precious lives as a result of blind loyalty, jealousy and outright stupidity.Isack Hamata WindhoekIn the light of the above-stated optimism, it is unfortunate that I have to burst our collective bubble and express misgivings about the direction that we heading in.I hope I am wrong in saying that the image of our music industry is slowly and gradually being tarnished by thugs masquerading as supporters of this or the other musician.I refer particularly to an incident on 31 March 2007 at Sam Nujoma Stadium when 41 bands and also artists performed at what was known at the Independence Concert.Everything seemed to have gone well until it was the turn of Lazarus Shiimi, aka Gazza, to do his thing on stage.Initially I thought caps and T-shirts were being tossed to Gazza’s fans but on closer scrutiny, it struck me that some thugs were actually trying to force Gazza off the stage by hurling bottles and cans at him.Gazza tried to act normally but one could sense that he was a bit shaken by the dastardly acts and one song later, he called it a day.Without pointing fingers at any one in particular, I am inclined to suggest that this cowardly act of throwing objects on stage was something that was pre-planned.How else do you explain a group of people, standing in one corner throwing objects simultaneously onto the stage? I refuse to be told that this is an isolated incident.A similar incident took place in Ongwediva about a year ago when another best-selling artist was forced off the stage just as he was about to perform his first song.It is further alleged but yet unconfirmed that a ‘rival’ musician had given orders to a group of thugs to switch off the main supply as soon as that particular artist made it to the stage.There are many other incidents during which some artists have been physically assaulted for being in the territory of one or the other rival artist.We all know that more than two-thirds of the music shows are sponsored by corporate entities who want to see value for their money.No self-respecting business would want to put money into an event that would potentially be a risk to people’s lives.That would by extension be a death knell to Namibian musicians and their aspirations as we all know that only a few really make money through CD sales.The rest depend on live performances while others are lucky to make a living from both.And then you have fistfights and knives and guns brandished at music awards just because some elements expected their favourite artists to walk away with all the awards on offer.In our society, we have elements that have chosen to be allergic to decent behaviour and unfortunately, these thugs have infiltrated the music industry, as tacit employees of some of our artists.If these uncouth and unscrupulous elements continue to sow unrest at music shows, artists could find themselves without income.We all know that a good number of today’s local musicians have dropped out of school and university to concentrate on their music careers.Would they have anything to fall back on if they are so determined to destroy the very same thing that is responsible for putting bread on their tables? It is time for society to address and root out the hooliganism in our music industry.More importantly, musicians themselves, as a collective or as individuals, must stand up and address these actions committed in their names.I do not want to sound alarmist but I must warn that it won’t be long before we see the demise of the music industry or the loss of precious lives as a result of blind loyalty, jealousy and outright stupidity. Isack Hamata Windhoek