Navigating Studies and a Musical Journey

Most of us follow the same routine in life: Go to school for 12 years, get the degree, then find a career.

Very seldom do people actually pursue their dreams, no matter what it takes, but that’s what three Namibian students have on their minds. Having started their own record label in December 2017, Afro-pop artists Bravo B, James10 and Y-Boy believe that young people don’t have to give up studying or be drop-outs to pursue careers in music.

The three creatives, who are all individual artists under their label Brave Gang, were born and raised at Ongwediva, but saw the capital as the perfect place to chase their dreams.

“A lot of people think musicians should only be people who failed their Grade 12, or who are not professionals in other sectors. I don’t see anything wrong with being a ‘jack of all trades’ if you are chasing your dream,” says Y-Boy.

spoke to the three artists for some insight into who they are and their journey into music.

Philemon ‘Bravo B’ Hoon is a 19-year-old veterinary medicine student at the University of Namibia (Unam). He recently released a red-hot single ‘Dance Down Low’ featuring Courage and TheGr8Maly – an upbeat Afro-pop song perfect for the club and surely a great tune to dance to.

“This song was rated high on radio playlists country wide and is now one of the favourite dance songs in local clubs,” says Bravo B. A crowd favourite, the song has featured in socialite Maria Nepembe’s Instagram story, among other notable names in the industry.

“I’m really thrilled to make a hit song at the age of 19, because a lot of Namibian artists do not glow up at this age and I’m just going to give nothing but the best to my fans this year,” he says.

Due to his song, Bravo B has been booked at various events since. “I performed at big events such as Miss High School North 2018, Exit Rockaz’ ‘Life of Kunta Kinte’ album launch and at the Oshakati Talibaaza Festival,” Bravo B says.

Moses ‘James10’ Shikwaya (19) isn’t letting his dream of becoming an educator meddle with his journey into music. An education student at Unam, James10 also started garnering fans after he released his single ” featuring Y-Boy and Vikta Juiceboy, the singer says.

“ is an Oshiwambo saying meaning ‘you should not play with me’”, James10 adds.

“This song got a lot of love from fans. The fans like the collaborations a lot with all of three of us being unique musicians and bringing our skills together, we ended up coming up with a very nice song.”

James10 has been booked at the same shows as his counterpart, Bravo B, last year.

Elias ‘Y-Boy’ Shiwayu is a 20-year-old medical laboratory science student at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST). Y-Boy says he’s shown the Namibian music industry what he has to offer when he featured on ”.

“Good news to all my music lovers, I’m set to release my new single ‘Playing Me’ in early February,” he adds.

Y-Boy also performed alongside Brave Gang’s Bravo B and James10 at Miss High School North 2018, Exit Rockaz ‘Life of Kunta Kinte’ album launch and at the Oshakati Talibaaza Festival.

“It’s not easy being a musician and a student at the same time,” Y-Boy says. “You won’t always be there for shows or interviews but we promise to finish our education as well as fulfiling our musical dream,” he adds

Y-Boy says that Brave Gang will be taking the musical scene by storm as all three artists are busy working on their respective debut albums.

“We are putting in work so that our music will be known internationally before releasing the albums. We want to reach levels never reached in Namibia before. No Namibian musicians ever became very big internationally. We want to be the first,” Y-Boys says.

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