DBN Gogo Mandisa Radebe, has been named Spotify EQUAL Africa’s March Ambassador, making her the only African artist to date to hold the coveted title twice, a testament to her burgeoning career.
Radebe was also part of Mint’s Artists to Watch for 2024 alongside Uncle Waffles, HoneyLuv, and others.
A force to be reckoned with, holding her own in the space, DBN Gogo expressed how grateful she was to be part of the programme again.
“Being a part of the Equal Africa programme is something I am truly grateful for. Being recognised and celebrated as one of the many women pioneering SA music is an honour. The industry being male-dominated just exists as a fact in my world, not a barrier to entry. I have set my own standard,” she said.
About her realisation that music was destiny, she said: “I realised pretty early in my life that music would be a big part of it. Maybe not DJing exactly, but it just came naturally to me. I love being in a position to be able to express myself through music.”
She revealed the list of artists that she grew up listening to, sharing pearls of wisdom for aspiring artists.
“I grew up listening to all the SA greats: Boom Shaka, Thebe, Jimmy Dludlu, and Malaika. The influence of kwaito and afro-pop is quite heavy in the present dance and Amapiano genre.
“Don’t overthink it. Only you know whether you are doing it right or wrong by your standards. Be confident and trust yourself.”
Spotify has added more than 6 900 women artists to the Equal playlists and supported over 1 000 ambassadors in their home countries, including South Africa, where the March ambassador, DBN Gogo, is from.
This support has ranged from editorial to partnerships and marketing.
“How we show up on the continent for women and how we tell their stories is a priority for us, and artists such as DBN Gogo are presenting positive narratives locally and to the world through EQUAL Africa,” said Monica Kemoli-Savanne, Spotify’s artist & label partnerships manager for East Africa.
Within the first month of enrolling in the programme, Equal artists received access to 1.3 billion editorial streams.
Across one billion listening hours, the Equal hub has produced over 31 billion editorial streams.
Equal playlists led to the discovery of over 14.8 million new artists in 2023 alone, and over 11 800 editorial playlist additions were given to Equal artists overall.
The Star
anita.nkonki@inl.co.za