Cash Boy and Selector Against All Odds

WHEN you drive past Okahandja, down a long dusty road lined with prowling warthogs and baboons, you eventually reach the Osire Refugee Settlement.

Founded in 1992, the camp has accommodated tens of thousands of men, women and children fleeing from conflict in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Despite aid from the UN and the Namibian government, life is harsh in this environment and many still struggle for their daily existence. But out of this adversity, Lusamba Bertin and Kawaya Jean have beaten the odds by pursuing their dreams of making music.

Performing under the stage names of Cash Boy and Selector, the 22-year-old cousins are just starting to hit their stride.

After dominating all talent shows around Okahandja, they were invited to perform at the Osire refugee camp for African Children’s Day which led to a stint of radio airtime.

In 2011 they became registered artists with the Namibian Society of Composers and Authors of Music (NASCAM), since then they have been performing regularly at expos and events in Okahandja and Windhoek.

This chain of events all began in 2007, when Bertin and Jean first started making music during a Grade 10 class at the Osire settlement school.

“We just started drumming and rapping during music class, and eventually we started getting better. It all started from there,” said Bertin.

Now living together in Okahandja, the artists practice their music every evening after a hard days work. Both still study and work full time. Jean is at the University of Namibia (Unam) and runs his own woodcraft business whilst Bertin is taking electrical classes at the Katutura Youth Enterprise Centre (Kayec) and is a cellphone technician at AD General Dealer. They record in every spare moment, keeping their dream alive.

Currently working with Okahandja producers DK, Maximillian and Creative Madness, Cash Boy and Selector are collaborating with a variety of local talent. Giving back to the community that made them, they have plans to stage a talent show in Windhoek during July, with a cash prize going to the winning group.

They’ll be performing for the local crowd but they won’t be competing, those days are over for the Osire rappers.