© BIG BANG MAG 2020 Still we Rise OCTOBER 2020 NEW ERA FOR THE YOUTH Markus Spiske CONTENTS Kareem (01 - 02) Sade (03 - 04) Megamenia (05 - 07) Celeste (08 - 10) Cashkarii (11 - 12) Dj Bahle (13) Addict (14 - 15) keegan (16 - 17) S kay Muzik (18) Basik (19) Kareem 01 After he graduated from UC Riverside, Kareem travelled the world playing professional basketball and dove deeper into modelling, designing and music. After his brief professional career Kareem decided he would be much happier home in his community mentoring and coaching his youth basketball program Team Arsenal AAU while he developed as an model and designer. Currently Kareem is a influencer for multiple brands and is in full pursuit of his modelling and acting career. He continues to give back to his community through coaching and developing basketball talent in the San Francisco Bay Area . He’s also is working closely with his father in Accra Ghana looking to continue to bridge the gap between athletes also looking to pursuing his education and basketball careers in the States. Five years from now Kareem looks to doing several campaigns of modelling for major brands as well as and launching his own brand. Also becoming an agent Kareem Nitoto Born in Oakland California, Kareem grew up playing sports influenced by his father Kwame Nitoto . He eventually gained a collegiate scholarship to the University of Hawaii to play basketball, Earning a conference honours there. He then transferred schools to UC Riverside to be closer to his family and continued his collegiate career. There in Riverside he developed his love for art and fashion and began styling and designing clothes as well as writing music. 02 In the near future expect to see him in some Independent film work and his designing work to be more developed , he will be releasing a look book and tons of modelling and styling. Kareem states that criticism comes with the territory. Being an entrepreneur and model isn’t easy at all. “Most people doubt me, most people think my dreams are far from reality but I’ve overcome too many obstacles and continue to reach what most view improbable” Sade 03 M ixo Hlungwani also known as Sade, grew up in Rabie Ridge kanana [Midrand], she is a fun person who loves dogs and is very outgoing, she also loves people, modelling, basketball and her favourite place to be is Church. She fell in love with modelling when her friend opened his company called Mareline media group, she started off working behind the scenes operating cameras, she was then approached by Grandmark modelling agency to be part of the management team, her eyes were caught by the pageants they hosted, “I got comfortable with the camera and that's how it started for me” S he did not attend any fashion modelling course which shows that modelling is in her blood, after matric she applied at UJ for BA in Corporate Strategic communication which is still in progress, she took some time off and took a learner ship at HEINEKEN SA and studied at Optimum Learning Technologies which she is completing this year and is heading back to UJ next year to finish off her degree. 04 Her ultimate goals when it comes to modelling are actually endless, she would love to join Miss Tembisa until she escalates to Miss SA and Miss Universe, there after she wants to go into runway modelling and portraits, she hopes to model for Rich Mnisi who is a power house when it comes to fashion. “I see a lot of progress because of the support I get from the people I've worked with, I am surrounded by amazing people in the industry who are willing to work hard with me to reach the end goal”. She states that modelling needs a focused person, her current challenge at the moment is exposure, she has to grind and hustle for gigs, “I have to negotiate and use good business tactics to get exposure which keeps one's head in the game and humble” the other challenge she is faced with is getting sponsors for donations and charitable work which she is currently working hard to get. I hope to accomplish Miss SA and Miss Universe, through that I can help more people with donations, community work and so much more as it will be easier also to get sponsors for the needy than it is now She is also a dancer who is also working on opening a dance studio in the hood where kids with the passion for dance can come and express themselves in a safe environment, another benefit for this studio is that we will prepare them for competitions and also give them exposure and work hard to score gigs for them. W ork smart, it is not easy and just because you face a few challenges it doesn't mean it's not possible, follow your passion and once you find it, give it your all, don't be ashamed to break out of your shell and don't forget to Pray. MegaMenia 05 B orn and raised in Limpopo , Phalaborwa , it was kind of difficult for him to be himself in an environment that's far from e verything , but he had basically no idea what he was called for, or what his true purpose was. “During my days of high school all I ever knew was to study science and maths cause I grew up in a mining area, along my journey of life” , His interests suddenly twisted and he fell Inlove with hip hop but nobody believed he could be great in that field. Helly Mafetsa He spent most of his time outside state theatre with the person who taught him about the basics of photography, all his time was spent on YouTube were he perfected his craft. He had doubts too, he then went to college to study electrical Engineering, but problems came along the way, his family couldn't afford to pay for his fees anymore, by that time had love for fashion and music, so he decided to drop out because his parents had nothing, he was only given R2500 to pay for my fees which was still not enough, so he took the money to buy a camera, and told himself that he will go to Johannesburg to pursue his true passion in fashion and hip hop, whilst he was in Pretoria he had already applied at Tshwane University of Technology that is when he ended up studying Engineering, along his journey he lost interest in fashion and music but deep down it was still in him. He had his camera with him, he kept on using it until he developed a good eye for pictures, then he opened his company while studying and saving [NSFAS] money to fund for what he truly loves. 06 The challenges he faced when starting his business were money related and also not being able to sustain his business, it was difficult to describe what Megamenia was about when he did not have the right team on his side, it took a while for him to actually find himself and it was not easy. 07 “The most painful thing was saving money while people went out to have fun, I've spent my days trying to meet people so that my company could be uplifted to a better level, I've fought with clients due to how due to bad communication, but those failures made me who I am today, I lost friends because I was simply honest and real with them”. When it comes to achievements he states that he is not where he wants to be yet, but he has had a great opportunity to work with a few celebrities, he also had the opportunity to showcase his skills in most of the richest neighbourhoods in Pretoria, he has worked with countless private media companies, and has won best creative photographer on Mega artists m agazine which is established in Polokwane, he has been on an article on Pretoria news along with my team for phenomenal Art, “its not much but I appreciate the blessings”. Celeste 09 Celesty Esmerilda Rita Magou She came to Johannesburg on the 13 th of January 2016 like any young person she was ready to start with her education and get 6 figures but life turned out different. Celeste was staying with her mother in an informal settlement due to circumstances she was facing, she had to go look for a job than to continue with her tertiary studies, she got the job at a retail store called brand mania where she was earning R11,59 a hour. “Life continued and like any young lady I started having fun, Up to a point I realize that I don’t deserve to go out and have fun because I didn’t work for it”. Her mother got her into a nursing course which cost roughly around [R15 000] for a year and the qualification would’ve been a NQL4 and during that time she was also working part time on weekends at the same store, it turned out that the school was not registered all that money went down the drain. 10 During that time she realized that she must do something she had to find a way out of that tricky situation. Celeste started small by selling stuff like Tupperware, Avon just to make a living, during that period she was accumulating selling techniques “At first I used to be very concerned about what people have to say so that affected me”. What made changed her views in life was the situation she was caught up in she had to come back to her senses mind you she was still staying in a [01] room shack . One particular morning she woke up very tired and discouraged and the place she woke up in was an eye opener in her life. She realised that this is not the life she wanted, she woke up with a different view of life. “I went out and I sold those lipsticks and got enough money to join Herbalife plus I wanted the body” She had to set some goals that she would have to achieve. By so doing she finally got her way around everything, she got some customers and which I must say it was an eye opener. “The people that are close to you are more likely not to support you but people outside your ring that would contribute to your dream”. Cashkarii 11 Up and coming artist based out the Bay Area [USA]. O riginally from Richmond California but moved to Vallejo at a young age. He resided there for the majority of his teenage years until went to College. “Sadly I am a college dropout lol but I realized that school wasn’t something that I wanted to do” . He would rather put all his time and energy into his life and pursue his career as an artist. Growing up he had so many musical inspirations. Just to name a few: Young Thug, Lil Wayne, Cheif Keef , Earl Sweatshirt who is South African but is based in the states and many more. Dakari Sams