Minenhle Ndwandwe

Growing up in a poverty stricken area with little to no opportunities can make people lose interest in nurturing their talents. Nkosingphile Ntombela is making it his mission to reach in the deepest rural areas to educate and recognize gifted local artists in KwaZulu-Natal.

The Umusa FM Dj from south uMthwalume is working tiressly with his team on workshops that will educate artists on how to market themselves and an awards event that will take place in 2021 called “KZN Stars Awards”.

“I’m working on this project as a result of seeing many unrecognized KZN artists especially where I come from. Artists struggle to push themselves to the world of entertainment and they have no support. As KZN Stars, we’ll workshop them for free and help them distribute their music,” Ntombela added.

Ntombela says the project will teach artists about personal management, branding and also investment at an early age. He says people might not understand but he too was also at a position where he needed help and ended up receiving lifetime advice from Gagasi FM radio presenters Mzokoloko and Leko 5 years ago at a talent search show, which reignited his passion for radio.

KZN Gospel artist Trizer Zuma says this project is her hope now as she has been performing in the streets for years but has nothing to show for it.

“It would restore the faith in many artists, it is painful to give up on your talent. Some end up doing drugs because of such things. It has always been my dream to be able to get my music on the shelves and playing on radio,” Zuma said.

Picture: Supplied