Namibian music has evolved from the distinct sounds and beats of Africa to an infusion and kaleidoscope of personal and societal influences that have moulded its development. The music producers of Africa are not only ensuring that our local artists are able to give African countries a voice, but are also enabling them to compete on the same footing with their national and international counterparts.
Namibia can be described as a music melting pot; from folk dances and reggae to house, rock, jazz and hip hop, the Namibian music industry has produced a smorgasbord of potential producers, artists and sounds of which the biggest factor hampering its development is the lack of effective organization in order to market and distribute the music products.
A Music Producer in Namibia
Technological advances have made creating individual personalized music an achievable feat. With computer software programs such as Cubase 4, Fruity Loops and Reason, music producers everywhere are halving their workloads and exploring different avenues of sound. One such individual is Tshuutheni Emvula, a DJ and music producer in the local Namibian music industry. Tshuutheni Emvula, otherwise known by his stage and performance name of Becoming Phill, is successfully renegotiating the boundaries of African music.
Namibian and African by descent, Tshuutheni was born in Berlin, Germany on the 19th of October 1981, and with extensive traveling to countries such as Sweden, his musical tastes and influences burgeoned and grew into the organic entity that he calls it today.
In a conversation with Suite 101 on Tuesday the 16th May, Tshuutheni describes his beginnings, ‘I first began to make music in my head, I would hear a song and think, ‘if this instrument was different,’ or ‘if I could change the arrangement.’...I first ever produced a song in 1997 when my sister brought me the first version of Fruity Loops...’ He sways away from using specified formulas, and considers his music and its production an alive, organic process.
I am Not a House DJ
Tshuutheni has produced house, hip hop, kwaito and rock music and has worked with Namibian artists such as African Boy, Qonja, and Tequila; collaborating with the Namibian record label known as Lowkey. He likens the industry to a budding flower bed, stating that there are still problems to be ironed out such as unity among artists and establishing proper structures to secure artists rights, but that the industry’s will eventually see a concerted drive in the right direction.
‘I am not a House DJ,’ is Tshuutheni’s new upcoming release, a kaleidoscope of sound that moves even the stiffest of heads. In response to whether the album will reflect the soul of the African continent, Tshuutheni states, ‘I think as technology progresses and the world becomes more connected it is changing the definition of what music is.....local music is always popular at home, wherever home might be. I am seeing a convergence of music styles.’
As the Namibian music industry begins to take flight on unsteady but focused wings, the future is nothing but optimistic, and artists, producers and consumers alike are welcoming and assisting to develop the new changes. For newly hatched prospective music producers, Tshuutheni offers some valuable pearls of wisdom, ‘ My advice is keep on keeping on, believe in what you are doing and just do it.’
Sharon Kasanda - Sharon Kasanda Suite 101.com Contributing Writer Sharon Kasanda is a contributing writer on Suite 101.com. She completed her ...
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