The changing face of Ogopa Butterfly and Namibian music

We all got to love their work as the people behind gifted girl group Gal Level, Hip Hop collective The Kalaharians and Faizel MC, as well as their sleek award-winning music videos for any artist who could pay their fee.

This was at a time when Namibian musicians were enjoying huge success in and outside the country with Gal Level enjoying wide recognition while shaking it on the continental stage.

But if you believe Windhoek’s grapevine Ogopa Butterfly, once the leading light in an industry filled with mediocre players, is seemingly following the same fate as Namibian popular music… all the way into oblivion.

The label proved that the Namibian music industry is an unforgiving mistress and its graveyard is filled with cocky startups.

At the height of their powers, the label managed musical acts such as Gal Level who were the hottest property in southern Africa, having bagged numerous Namibian music awards as well as Channel O Music Video Award nominations.

And then the misadventure of Gal Level’s supposed ‘Final Chapter’ happened. Publicity was done for the album as the dynamic duo’s hiatus was announced. But the ‘Final Chapter’ album never saw the light of day. Sula Kyababa, the man behind Ogopa Butterfly reveals that it was not financially viable to go ahead with the promised album.

But even after Gal Level’s ‘split’, rumours of staff not getting paid on time and a struggling magazine were rife. A break-in at Ogopa’s offices also occurred where thieves took recording equipment and some new equipment, which had just been installed and not yet insured. The break-in, according to Kyababa, came at a time when the company was preparing to unveil a host of new artists and projects.

“At the moment, we have three artists who we are ready to launch at a later date and are still working on a fourth one to join the group”, says Kyababa. He informs The Weekender that Daphne Willibard, former half of Gal Level is one of these artists and she will be launching her solo career. This comes after the group announced a five year break in 2012.

Kyababa rubbished all claims that the label has been silent, insisting that although Gal Level was put on halt for five years in 2012, there are already new artists who joined the label.

“We have so many artists requesting to join us, so rumours that we have died out are false”, he said. He explains that having artists on a label is not as simple as people think.

“We invest in artists. We set out a time frame to search for artists who we can build on. These artists sign contracts and they get enough time to ensure that the contracts are good,” said Sula.

Regarding rumours of financial troubles at the stable, Kyababa lambasts whoever came up with the rumours.

“A company’s financial status is very personal. Who has a right to be talking about someone else’s finances. People are praying for the downfall of this company,” he says angrily.

While the label has been quiet on the music front, it’s been making waves in the entertainment industry through their monthly publication ‘Red Carpet Magazine’ and TV show, ‘YO Music Countdown’ on One Africa where the public votes for the nation’s best music videos and the artist voted the top video three weeks in a row wins another professionally produced video. They are working on introducing their newest crop of artists to the industry and still shoot music videos for various artists.

The ever outspoken Sula also had something to say about the state of Namibia’s music industry and the relevance of music labels today.

He advises that it is always better for an artist to have a management team to take care of business while they concentrate on being creative.

“An artist’s role is to be creative but it becomes very difficult if they are also managing, promoting and promoting for themselves. I don’t know of any artist that has done this”, he said.

“Music management, he says, is not only about the quantity of artists under the label, but rather about financial success.” Most Namibians, he says, don’t understand that a music label only invests in creatives with an expectation to get a return on their investment.

“We lack a proper structure in Namibia, the structure being a label employing a manager to manage the artists’ daily affairs and a promotor to promote the artists, their shows, albums etc,” he says.

These days, he says, artists are employing managers who have no clue about management or any financial knowledge whatsoever.

Sula says that the Namibian music industry is at its worst today and unless something is done quickly, it will die a slow death.

“I am encouraging people in the industry to focus on building the industry instead of pulling each other down. Our PHD (pull him down syndrome) is turning investors away.

“The industry today is not growing the way it was in the past. How many artists do we have at the Channel O Awards today as opposed to previous years? Only one! Yet we claim to have grown,” said Sula somewhat despondently.

He mentions the poor attendance at live shows and says that Ogopa Butterfly has lost its drive and passion for the industry as the industry is not the same anymore.

Kwaito artist The Dogg disagrees. According to him, he still attracts a good crowd at all his shows. “My shows are still attended because people can relate to my music,” he says.

Gazza also says that CD launches still manage to attract good crowds.

He admits that there are older fans who have fallen out of live shows but they are catered for through reserved and matured shows.

“There is no industry right now, everyone is doing what they want and we sincerely hope that by the time we release our new artists, the PHD syndrome has left the industry,” insists Sula.

Questioned about this ‘syndrome’, Big Ben was adamant that no such thing exists, and if it does, it’s only with some individuals in the industry.

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