FIVE TIMES NAMIBIAN MUSIC WON IN 2021

The Tribe Exclusive

The Namibian music scene may have been dealt a big blow with the 2020/2021 lockdowns and event restrictions, but the industry has only given us exciting moment after exciting moment in return. At The Tribe Exclusive, we love everything local and everything lekker and that is why we are proud to look at the five moments when Namibian music made us all proud to be from the Land of the Brave...

THE SOUTH REIGNS SUPREME

We all know how proud people from the South are when they rise from often challenging backgrounds to show the whole country that “die suide maak vrede”. So imagine the pride and joy of everyone who hails from the South when Keetmanshoop native Roda won the first-ever The Search talent show earlier this year. The talented Afrikaans lyricist walked away with N$100 000 which he announced would go into building a music studio in his home town in order to help his industry peers make quality music without having to travel to the city. Talk about an inspiring story!

ROCKING THE BOAT TO NAMIBIAN MUSIC

Rock The Boat continued to show all of us what the young people of the mighty Kavango Region are capable of creating. The show went bigger and better this year with back-toback episodes featuring Elia Da Vinci, Top Cheri and Ethnix. The live music production, which features performances on the Okavango River, raked in some good views with each YouTube premiere of the three artists’ take on the floating stage. While it is still growing as a concept, Rock The Boat is a reminder that there is so much talent in the regions – all that needs to happen is for everyone to appreciate, nurture and support it.

MA/GAISA COMES ALIVE

One of Namibia’s most authentic genres, Ma/Gaisa, got an injection of fresh new talent with the culmination of the Ma/ Gaisa Star Search in May. Multi-talented singer and actor Mervin “Marvtown” Claassen walked away with the coveted prize, beating off competition from 180 entrants and earning the rights to the title of Ma/Gaisa Star of 2021. The competition is aimed at discovering the most outstanding unsigned Ma/Gaisa solo music talents and, judging by the thrilling performances that were on display, proved to be a platform that thoroughly brought the genre alive.

NAMIBIAN MUSIC BEYOND BORDERS

Our musicians could not be contained within borders this year, giving us some amazing international collaborations, performances and features, such as talented producer Sam-E Lee Jones cooking up some tunes for mega international stars like Rotimi. And who can forget how three young Namibian Producers took over TikTok with their remix of Selena Gomez and Kygo's 2017 song ‘It ain’t You’? DJ Abux alongside Innocent and Soulking showed us the power of social media as their track raked up views in the millions and started a TikTok trend that lasted for months.

BREAKAWAY STARS

This year, harmonising vocal duo Ethnix proved to be the breakaway stars of the year. Not only did they give us some visually pleasing videos to their biggest hits, but they also went on to reach 1 million YouTube views for the Open Up video in only four months – a huge feat by Namibian standards. The pair stayed booked and busy all year long, with performances all over the country at some of the biggest events of the year. Their biggest feat for the year, however, was no doubt winning the Russian Bear South Africa ultimate collaboration competition. This gave them a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity to record with South African artists Blaq Diamond and Nadia Nakai and bagging a whopping N$250 000 cash prize.

The Tribe Exclusive gives a massive shout-out to these Namibian music stars who have made 2021 beautiful through their achievements over the year. And if you ever find yourself doubting Namibian music, get your ears checked because local jams have and will always be lekker!

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