DKDZ embracing local artists
As Malawian music industry expands, musicians are working hard to perfect their art through fashion, urban trends and good-quality videos. However, lack of finance is a major setback due to limited music record labels fund artists. DKDZ Entertainment founder Daniel Gondwe tells staff writer Chikondi Marshall how his new record label will contribute to the music industry.
Q
:Tell us about yourself.
A
: My name is Daniel Duncan Gondwe. I come from Bolero in Rumphi District. I am the second born in a family of five. I did most of my primary and secondary education in the Northern Region where I was staying and I have a bachelor in land surveying from Mzuzu University. Currently, I am staying in Durham, in the United Kingdom.
Q
: What does DKDZ Entertainment do?
A
: It is a music record label that I founded. DKDZ is a combination of my name’s initials and my daughter’s name. I started the label in January this year with the mission and goal to discover raw talent and expose it to the world, not just in Malawi but across the globe. When I talk about raw talent, I mean the up-and-coming artists who have what it takes to deliver good music, but lack financial support and a platform to shine.
Q
: What inspired you to start a music label?
A
: I was listening to Patience Namadingo’s interview one day. It was fascinating to hear such a big artist talking about the music industry and how talented musicians fail to make it because of different challenges in Malawi. However, what inspired me was where Namadingo said: “If you want to conquer, you need to go as a team”. This message made me realise that I can also make an impact and help change the narrative of music in Malawi. The other thing is that I want to put Malawi on the map. Here in UK, people can mention some African countries because of their musicians like Burna Boy and Wiz Kid from Nigeria and Cassper Nyovest from South Africa. Unfortunately, we don’t have such artists in Malawi.
Q
: How many artists have you signed so far?
A
: So far, we have signed three, namely Geimoh, Jeckings and Lazz G. We are open to all genres of music as long as there is talent. We have dancehall, hip-hop and amapiano musicians, but we are still searching for more artists.
Q
: Since you are in the UK, who is running the operations in Malawi?
A
: We have two operations managers Francis Mhera Shaba and Justine Kumchenga. They handle all the support and management and are doing amazing job. Amapiano artist Geimoh last month released a new song called Blesser which is receiving positive feedback on YouTube and streaming platforms.
Q
: What are your plans as a label?
A
: As I said earlier, we are still looking for talented up-and-coming artists. This is the reason we are running a programme called ‘DKDZ entertainment up-and-coming artist promo’. This is a talent search and evaluation programme where up-and-coming artists send their demo music to our Facebook page or through email for sampling.
Q
: What should Malawi music industry expect from DKDZ Entertainment?
A
: We want to develop the music industry to a global music mainstream. We will use our available resources and connections to produce global musicians. Here in Malawi, we have talented artists who can carry the national flag. It is our responsibility to support and build them.
