Local Music vs International Music

IT is an undeniable fact that can be confirmed by many that regional, continental and international music dominates the decks and sounds in many clubs, lounges and pubs across the country.

While international music used to rule many sets played by DJs in the past, with the recent growth of house music, afro-jazz and Nigerian music closer to home, DJs have moved away from playing strictly American music, for example, to playing more and more African artists, especially those from Nigeria and South Africa.

Music by Namibian artists however still very rarely features on these playlists. Even club promoters and managers currently concentrate more on featuring international artists in order to attract large crowds.

Promoter and DJ Desmond Shapaka of Birdies Promotions agreed that as a promoter he does concentrate more on bringing in artists from outside the country for events because they prove to excite party goers more, especially in Windhoek.

“With anything, if you become used to it, it is not exciting any more. The people at the coast, south and north will still be excited to go for a local artist like Mushe, but for the crowd in Windhoek, you have to come with different artists because they are used to seeing local artists everywhere,” Shapaka said

DJ Fisherman of the KFC DJs said that as much he would like to play a lot more local music, there is no interaction between the DJs and the artists on what local music to play in various hangout spots and events.

“We also want to promote our local music, but artists do not come to us with their music so that we can play it during our sets. The only artists that come to us with their music are Gazza and The Dogg. The artists and DJs need to realise that they need to work together to better promote Namibian music,” DJ Fisherman said.

Manager of Kin Lounge, Bamba Wilson, also agreed that not enough local music is played in the club, but that he understands why the DJs play more international music than local. He says local music is not as appealing as international sounds.

“I would like to hear more Namibian music, but our artists seem to still make music in the old ways and that is not too appealing to the crowd,” Wilson said.

Shapaka also said that the type of music played during a set also depends on what the crowd wants. He added that DJs earn their respect based on how they can keep the crowd entertained and if they can keep the crowd on the dance floor.

“A DJ cannot keep playing music if there is nobody on the dance floor and the truth is that the crowd does not respond as well to local music as they do to international music,” Shapaka said.

DJ Kalypso feels the type of music a DJ plays depends on the type of DJ they are.

“I play more South African music than local music. I am a house DJ and there is not a lot of quality Namibian house music that is why I play South African and international house,” Kalypso said.

The consensus seems to be that better and more diverse music needs to be produced by local artists so that music lovers and clubbers actually demand their favourite tracks are played across the country’s hot hangout spots. In this way club DJs, promoters and owners will simply have to play what the people want.