BIG BANG MAG AUGUST EDITION .pdf - Andiwa Ziqubu

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Redefining the future. AUGUST 2020 Still we Rise © BIG BANG MAG 2020 NEW ERA FOR THE YOUTH             Rey Oceans Nkosenhle Dube Born and raised in Newcastle by an African black queen whose biggest strength is her disability and her greatest achievement was never letting the streets raise her son but her single handily, as the matriarch. Oceans has been passionate about music from an early age, in 2016, he decided to give himself the name Rey Oceans. Rey meaning king , a leader , problem solver , and a lover and Oceans as we all know resembles many things but to him what stood out was the magnitude the word ocean conveys and as peaceful as it may seem it can also be dangerous. “Nothing is as dangerous as the ocean so I feel like the word oceans describes my personality because as peaceful as I am I can get a little dangerous and the rest of y’all are going to have to listen to my interviews to keep understanding the name more”. 01 When it came to Imitation, he didn't have much to say about it but he is heavy on being himself through out his journey. “One thing I know is staying true to yourself always inspires the next generation to know that they can be themselves and make it”. The experience in this industry is crazy, he shared his contact details for his day one fans to interact with him and to also share ideas, A lot of people thought he did it for marketing purposes or popularity but it was for his heart to be at peace when it came to the creativity process and also wanting to know individuals in his hometown because his Facebook friends are mostly from Newcastle so it was a way for him to know them personally and being able to find what the real problem is that stops everyone from living their dreams and also to be free, he got all the answers he needed now he is cooking up a storm in the Oceans to help a few host events where they can also participate not just as attendees but headliners. Oceans was blessed big time when Rowlene who is signed to Tall Racks Records which is led by the coolest kid in Africa Nasty C, he states that it was crazy too, it made him happy for some time, if he was to rate his excitement level, he would give it a solid 9.5 +5 % especially when she watched his Instagram live. “Hip-hop is a clearly defined culture but I am making it work for me. I set my own rules to follow, whatever they say about hip-hop its their definition, not mine.” More is definitely coming from Oceans,” things are easy when we are working together emphasis on the word “together”. 02 King Tune Mfundo Mbhele New castle artist Tune chose the music path so that he could express himself. He found the “King” in music, he has always killed cyphers and rap battles so he always knew that he a was King in his Tunes. To him hip-hop means express yourself however you want to with no boundaries. Music has always been his go-to fun activity including fashion also dancing. To him the entertainment industry is a platform to change people's paradigm, “hip hop is my confidence”. The motivation behind God Given EP which features (Rey Oceans) was to let people hear and understand who they are musically, they are not just rappers but Musicians their music is diverse there is (3) different genres in their project. With this project they wanted everybody to find, be comfortable, love and embrace who they are and shine in their own lane. There is a lot more work coming from the both artists as TuneOceans. “What makes it hard is I found Hip Hop before I had hair but I loved hair before I found hip hop Sure I could live without hair but i don't think I can live without hip hop”. 03 Chantel Dikatso Segalwe Chantel is a 25 year old lady who is a daughter amongst two brothers and still grateful to have both parents in her life. She resides in the capital city of the North West in Mahikeng. She completed her higher education at Mahikeng High School in 2013, she later then followed her dream and passion for cooking in becoming a qualified Professional Chef at the culinary school of Mahikeng (Mahikeng Hotel School). She is also a Runway/Catalogue model, she is freelancing when it comes to her modelling career. Her hardworking spirit landed her a position of being a brand ambassador for Rusternburg Fashion week and also the face of DATZMCKAY designs, she often works with Miss Teen and Miss Pretoria West in a Non-profit organization that's into charity work which is currently sponsored by ElizAlfre 04 She has grown to be a very humble, modest and down to earth soul, who strives to always help people. She was raised in a Christian principled family. Growing up was very sporty and fun for her, she has always loved netball and athletics and eventually became captain back in high school. What got her to realize her passion for cooking was her curiosity in the kitchen when she was still in high school, “I would always be keen to try new things and challenge myself in either baking or cooking”, she found herself at peace in the kitchen, the kitchen is her happy place. In terms of modelling she has always loved it from a distance because she was a bit shy and introverted growing up, but people would just approach her and say she looks like a model (which she does) and that gave her the confidence to try it out. So in a nutshell she knew that she wanted to be both a Model and a Professional Chef, she just had to make it happen. Her biggest achievement she got to achieve in her life was never materialistic at any point, it was never about getting the next job or anything, there are so many ways in which people define success/achievements for themselves but hers was simply to be able to impact other people's lives through charity work, changing people's lives and being there for the needy. “it touches my heart and soul in the deepest way imaginable”. Greater things never come from comfort zones. Chantel’s mother has a huge impact in her life, she is her pillar of strength, she motivates her to always do better and she is always there every step of the way. “She is the need to achieve and empower myself has always been my number one priority”. “If I were to describe how my journey of being a model and a chef, I would gladly smile and say it's a very exciting route to take but only needs a person with a thick skin, because being a model in this industry can either break you or build you, so a person just needs to be confident enough and be able to withstand rejection. I would also like to highlight the fact that models should do their research before signing into agency contracts and be manipulated”. being a chef is very exciting and soothing because the kitchen helps her refocus and penetrate deep into her thoughts, it gives her the pleasure to explore more, travel more and it also broadens her horizon. 05 Keahrra Keahrra Howard Born in August 19,1999 in a small town called Moultrie, Georgia (USA). She started singing and writing songs at a very young age. “I remember always walking around the house humming to myself and always asking family members and friends could I sing for them”. The very first time she ever sang for an audience was at the age of eight at a church event she attended called "Mother Easter." That is ironic because it was actually on Easter Day that she had to perform. All the other kids that attended at her church wanted to say speeches, but she was the only one who wanted to sing. “I remember at the end of my performance watching everyone stand in ovation. At that moment she knew exactly what she wanted to be. At the end of the ceremony that day she told her mother that she wanted to become a singer. Ever since then her mother would take her to auditions. “I would audition for acting and modelling schools. It's crazy because I would exceed every audition, but not have the money or funds to attend these particular schools”. As everyone else in life she has endured Life struggles honestly they pushed her to achieve her dreams. Watching her mother struggle as a single parent it turned her into a ambitious young lady. There were times where they struggled to buy groceries, keep the lights and water on, or even have a decent amount of clothes to wear. Her mother sacrificed a lot and went to college to become a nurse so that she could pave the way for a better life for keahrra and her little sister . Even though those times are now far gone, she still pushes to the limit so that she never has to worry about them suffering again. 06 “I have faced many struggles when it comes to me chasing my dreams. Being an Artist is a lot more than just writing a song or recording on a daily. There is a lot of hard work and dedication involved. There are many mistakes made, heartbreaks from the numbers and there are many people who will try to sell you dreams. Being an Artist you really have to be focused. You have to know what you want, and be on your Ps and Qs at all times”. She would like to change the sound in the music industry. She feel as if a lot of artists rap and sing about the same things. There's no originality in the game anymore, especially when it comes to lyrics. There are a few artists who have a different vibe and they are succeeding in their own lane. For example: Sheensea, Jada Kingdom, Stalk Ashley, Jesse Reyez, Mulatto, Rubi Rose and many more. Those are new female artists that she currently listen to and they each have something different about them. “I want to be that Artist that comes off with a different vibe, different sound, and a different style of writing so that when people hear my music they know that I wrote the song just as well as I sing it”. She feels as if her voice and style of writing is already unique and it will take her very far. 07 NiceDeRapper Palesa Ditshego NiceDeRapper Age (23) born and bred in a small town in Mpumalanga called Leandra in Gets Sebande region, She started rapping at (13) back then she used to roll with the name “Barbie” she was also part of a crew called YSE which was one of the most famous rap crew in her hood. “I've always loved being on the stage whether it be acting, poetry or rapping just being in front of people gave me such joy”. Not being the most popular kid in school gave her a chance to work on her art and it also gave her a chance to work on figuring out who she really is as an artist. After tertiary she really didn't see herself doing anything else but music and that's when she started taking her art seriously. In 2017 she opened a show for Zakwe and Tsotsi by nature in Witbank, which was a great experience. Later on that year she entered a rap competition that Old mutual had hosted called OMGWAP17. which she had battle against Mcee’s in all the Universities in the country. She was the only female MCee in the top (10), top (5) and top (3), for the finals she flew to University of Cape Town where she shared a stage with the likes of Kwesta, Amanda Black, Pro verb, K.O and many more. 08 She came second and it was the biggest achievement of her career. The next day she was invited to her first national radio interview at Ukhozi FM which was a blast, fast forward 2018 she was featured in a Gqom song called Myeke which was aired on MTVBase, Channel O and on most radio stations, that alone gave her an idea on starting her own movement. In 2019 she worked on a promotional summer song for SABC1 which started broadcasting December 2019 till February 2020. Throughout her journey her inspiration came from the passing of her father which occurred when she was still at a tender age, she would write poems about him till the day she heard a song that was made by rappers in her hood did it really touched her, she then decided to up her poetry a bit and that's how she started rapping, the word play and how they conveyed stories blew her mind away, the hooks were so catchy and the message was too deep she couldn't ignore the desire to do exactly what they were doing or even do better. Her biggest supporters are her family members they takes videos whenever they see her on Television and they are very proud of her success which also makes her very proud of all that she does. 09 She has been to YoTV and she states that she was nervous but sure that she would do just fine. Her first time she was called for Furry land and she had to read a kiddies book, which was fun. Then the second time she was a guest presenter at YOTV Live, she was a natural and she hardly made mistakes. Right there she knew that she was made for the entertainment industry, “I will never forget the experience and how supportive everyone was. When I got to the YOTV studio I literally almost ran away because it kicked in that I was going live, no rehearsal no time to learn the script nothing but on the other side I was positive and I knew I can do it and I did”. She has had her fair share of crazy DM’s one guy sent her a text on Facebook and he was basically confessing his undying love for her and her art that was cute the freaky part was she kept on seeing his face in every event she went to, but yeah she thinks he was the craziest and realest. She also had a secret admirer who kept on calling to check on her progress and he would send through people's numbers who work in her industry for studio time, till today she still doesn't know who he is. Nice just started a movement called Mpumalanga Musical Movement, with a couple of her associates, Mr. White, Plug 808, Smusik, Kay Black, WendiTheMc, Lindo, Kayise Media they have partnered with S.K and his media house who handle their visuals. Their vision is to put Mpumalanga on the map, they are working on pushing local artists and also empower them and focus on independency. They launched a foundation called "Ubumbo" where we will be giving essentials to charity homes in Gerd Sibande. Nice has been nominated for best up coming artist at the GAMA Awards, to vote for her you have to SMS GAMA315 to 47439 it's only R3. Winning this would mean the world to her, It would be her first award as an independent artist and definitely a pat on the back for all the hard work she has put in. “If I win I know I'll motivate a lot of people so that for me is success”. 10 SleezyVanLeader Kgaogelo Makgaila SleezyVanLeader started to listen to house music at an early age when his brother (Gideon) won 2 compact discs of house music from a Yfm competition at the age the of 12, at the age of 13 his childhood friend gave him a cassette as a birthday as a present (channel 0 mixed by dj christos). “I still remember back in secondary school my friend (DJ six toes) bought a sound system, we used practice each and every day until bookings started to come through”. They used to work on making sure that they deliver the best sounds all the times so that the bookings can keep on coming. “I remember my first gig at Pikies joint it was scary and nerve wrecking but because of the love i pushed to destroy my fear it was awesome. The likes of Dj fresh, Black coffee, Da capo, Hayena, Dj Rocco, Julian jabre, Raw artistic and others play a huge part in sleezy’s inspirational list, his skills are similar but authentic and he moves the crowd with the healthy sounds that he mixes at events. The passion and love for his craft is what keeps him going, the way he fell in love with house music is the reason why he dishes out amazing mixes, his supporters believed in him since day one till today. Sleezy’s parents never loved the fact that he wanted to be a dj till the day he had to play a set at a friends party, his cousin (Thabiso) called them to come witness their son doing what he loves, his mom was in tears and she was so surprised and amazed. 11 Sleezy states that many Dj’s start their journey and focus on requesting hefty booking fees rather than building their names in the industry, that in his own words is what ends up killing most upcoming dj's talents to the point that they end up quitting before their talent is heard and the other point he raised was based around the fact that most upcoming Dj’s don’t want to work towards taking chances. He states that before jumping into anything draw up a plan and do your research before labelling yourself as a Dj, “patience is key, push your passion money will follow you, believe in yourself first also try to spend time with people who believe in your craft. Never give up easily, make them believe in you believe in you all the time, stick with people who believe in you all the time. 12 Naledi Zondi 24-year-old born in Marrianhill, raised in Bulwer and Mariannridge. She graduated with a B.Tech in Retail Business Management in 2019. It was an affordable alternative since she was blessed to get a bursary. Art was her favourite subject in school and it was pretty evident when she won the art award with a matric final mark of 96%. She is definitely an academic at heart which is why she chose retail as an alternative. She would learn how to run her business, sell her art and went on to come out second place in her final year. Her art is her life journey. she has always wanted to use her passion to enable others to explore their talents and find ways to make Art a fruitful career. She quickly learned that people only trust you with their future if you have succeeded in the path they wish to follow. This meant that she would have to create art and earn a living from it. In South Africa, the value of art is still being learned especially in the black community. Her company’s slogan is "Invest in Art it Appreciates”. This refers to the appreciation in value and the artist's appreciation for support and investment. Her style is Surrealism, think Salvador Dali, but she can't sell that kind of style since she is not well known yet. “I focus on Realism Portraits, Home Decor art and marketing concept art like the Pringles/Aromat sneakers”. 13 These are the ways she makes an income. Self Portraits have been the most popular so far. Portraits of Edison Group Co-founder Vivian Reddy, PRC Head Thembinkosi Ngcobo, Doek On Fleek's Thandi Mavata are a few that have really helped market her work. she recently collaborated with IN.PR for the Pringles and Aromat campaign where a concept sneaker hand painted by her was part of their marketing package for celebrities and influencers in SA. She’s currently working with B.Furn Artisan Furniture and Design. All her work and designs are hand painted. “I love collaborations because sometimes I get to design the piece from scratch, I ensure that I explore my skills in many different ways”. She also knows her way around the camera and she has done corporate event photography for Distell. She has also explored the Make-up Artistry, Fashion Styling, Branding and Marketing. Naledi has a couple of people that she has drawn inspiration from and they have helped to push her art. She started her company in 2019 with the sole purpose of making money to fund her future Art foundation. This was to fund the underprivileged seeking to study art, fund art research programs, upcoming artists exhibitions and residencies. The first step to this was the Blanket Drive she hosted this year and it helped so many people during this winter. A lot of people have contributed to that and she is eternally grateful. “I'm a bit independent and have always been afraid to seek help as I don't want anyone to feel responsible for my success one day. Not a lot of people understand what I have been through on my own”. 14 “I don't think I will ever tame my inner critic. I'm very new in the business world so I know I still have a long way to go. Sometimes I have to take a moment to recognise how much I have managed to do in just one year. I always follow my instinct. God plays a huge role in guiding me and most of the decisions I make. My qualification has equipped me to fit in seamlessly in the industry. I come from a family of entrepreneurs and very familiar with the concept of 'no work no pay'. I am not shy to take a risk because everything my parents have done in their businesses was an on going risk. I feel I was born to be an entrepreneur but I do understand that I have to work to gain valuable experience. Welcoming knowledge from those who have walked in front of me has really built my business ethic”. 15 “While studying I was working in many retail stores and learning as much as I can. I understood the power of marketing, quality product/service and having a story to share. If people believe in you as a person then they will find value in what you do. I have been very open about my business journey. People relate with my struggles and everyone who has supported truly felt that they got the best from me. I treat every person I meet as a valuable experience and potential client. I believe my art should bring happiness as most of the time people gift each other with custom portraits. I have used my story, social media and basically my passion to convince my clients to invest in me”. Outside of art she work at her mother's Insurance Broker company. She is also a photograph director and she also collaborate with different photographers including Clear Photography and Stills By Deor. She is also a modeller and loves being in fashion oriented spaces. She is currently working with Gazania to develop charity programs, women empowerment events and programs to help creatives succeed in entertainment and creative industries. With inspiration from being a past Project Manager at Enactus Dut she loves helping out new entrepreneurs and creatives to launch and work on their projects. “I don't usually mention which projects I have helped start and are doing really great because it's unnecessary. I think my input is just a drop in the ocean compared to the founders' hard work”. “I do know I'm definitely not on track as I have very high expectations. I have a strategic action plan in place but I also enable flexibility for the inevitable occurrences like the Covid-19 Pandemic. I am very good at starting over and can adapt in any industry if need be. I measure progress through financial growth, the connections I have made and the impact I have had on others”. The future for Naledi Art involves the growth of Shop Naledi Art, gallery exhibitions and cementing herself in the art world as a professional artist. Her advice to other entrepreneurs is simply that you need to remember that no one can do what you do the way that you do it and that it's going to be the hardest thing you will ever do. 16 Amow Amogelang Mokgatlha Amow is an outgoing, bubbly person who likes making people feel good about themselves. She is a person who loves adventure, people and yet her own space but most importantly art. She grew up in a family filled with art in their blood. Growing up she used to listen to her older sister singing and she would literally do just that. The first time she sang in front of people was at a school trip in 6th grade, she was 12 years, that's when she knew it's what she wanted to do, till today she is still at it and along her journey she has fell Inlove with dancing. Her aim is to make people feel good, be happy and to make them aware they are not alone. “Sometimes we tend to forget that it's okay to be human, to be vulnerable. I'm here to show society that it's okay to feel all those things and how being authentic and true to yourself is always the way to go”. 17 She dislikes how the industry usually forces artists to do what's trending, “not that there's anything wrong with it but we as artists are meant to be creative, bring something fresh”. Artists should be allowed to create anything they want to create. Her likes about the art industry is how open and easy it is to be working with other people to to create something extraordinary. “Working with other artists especially in a performance setting. From rehearsed performances to jam sessions”. The way she blends in with other artist and how they all feed off each other’s creativity is insane, that gradually plays a huge seminal role/value in her journey. In 2019, she had the opportunity of getting trained by a vocal coach, during the process her singing improved remarkably. It gave her more confidence in what she’s doing. “I really learned a lot. From different warming up techniques, breathing techniques to pronunciation”. She learnt the importance of bettering her voice. She jumped on to the cover of Whipped Cream by (Ari Lennox), believe it or not she wasn't even going through what she was singing about in the song but she still fell in love with it because it was something she could somehow relate to somehow. “I mostly liked the simple guitar loop on the song, how Ari sings it telling her story and the mood it portrayed. I then saw her acoustic cover and I fell in love even more. I just knew I had to perform it and working with Scott (guitarist) on it brought out the flair I wanted”. 18 “My end goal is simply to tell stories that people don't speak about. To allow people to find their own truth in my music. To tour around the world telling those stories and writing more”. 19 ALL LIVES MATTER Nqobile Nqobile Mahlangu Born in Tembisa, Nqobile is a community Server at heart, her passion for life is to make other people happy. She is currently an intern as a system developer, She is a Co founder of Ubunye Benthsa which is a foundation that focuses on shaping the lives of young women, her supremacy doesn't end there she is also Co founder of Ghetto Heroes Tech Innovation which is an NPC based in Tembisa which gives young people the opportunity to get skills in coding because she believes that coding is the langue of the future, she lives by a drive that states that possibilities start within. The impact she hopes to achieve in life is to see her business grown into a big stable business that will impact and also change many lives. She is currently running for Miss Gauteng exclusive public choice 2020 20 Gumbi Tebogo Moremedi Gumbi’s musical journey started at the early stages of his life, when he was in Grade 5 in 2008/09, He joined the choir and that's where he realised that he has something special in music. His first performance was in 2010 at Sonop, Brits in North West. He was part of the artists on the line up at an event hosted by Madibeng. by that time he was very energetic on stage but shy because he was used to performing with his choir members, so it was his first performance and he was chosen as the best performer and best musician in the event. From then on he has been working hard to the point that he has over 150 plus songs unreleased plus a album that has 18 songs which he hasn’t released yet. One of his songs titled Pula got over 250 downloads in two days which was a huge accomplishment in his musical journey, he is not sure how many downloads it has now but his main aim is to shoot a music video with the people he grew up with in the hood, where he will revealing his character, one of the other songs which he will shoot visuals for is titled Moribo, which he wants to shoot around September, which will be accompanied with his album titled Rorisang which is younger sister's name. The reason why I chose her name is that she's the one who is always making sure that he puts in more effort in making more music because she saw potential in him, “if it wasn't of her I wasn't going to make it so far”. 21 “Sometimes you have to tell yourself that I'm doing music to heal peoples hearts”. He does not send harsh messages in his music; he fights with the demon that always destroys people's lives through his lyrics. When he performs and sees the negativity he gets from the crowd that is where he gains confidence. He went through Facebook and searched for Local Kasi Awards and that's where the interest in the MAMA Awards was drawn from. After 3 to 4 weeks of registration he received a SMS from MAMA Awards stating that he has been nominated for the Awards and same applies to GAMA Awards, If he wins the award, he wants to donate food to orphanages, charities around his area, because they have been through a lot specially this year. Afterwards he wants to shoot a music video with his award. For someone who wants to be recognised in this industry, he advises him or her to be patient. If you doing something that you love a lot of time, hard work and patience will be put into it so that the final product can be very appealing to people who listen to the music you make. Dont ever sleep on your talent because you don't know where it'll take you. Keep your faith in God because He makes things happen. 22 If we don't love and appreciate ourselves then who will? Prudence Prudence Sekhudu Her journey hasn’t three (3) tittles Mr & been the easiest but Miss Golden winter it has been fruitful, 2019 (Miss she began the journey Personality), Miss & back in 2018 after her Miss Glam Melanin first photoshoot, she Plus Size 2019 (2nd attempted to sign Princess), Miss Face with legit agencies of Divine 2019 (2nd but she had no luck, Princess Plus Size) but that didn’t that and Then 2020 I was didn’t stop her grind, crowned as Miss fast forward to 2019 Thick Goddass where she entered (Queen). various pageants where she obtained “I was 9 years of age when I fell in love with modelling, its always being my passion to be a model since then”. She has always had the passion for modelling and she also wanted to encourage chubby women out who feel inferior towards slim women and that being chubby doesn't mean you can't do anything or wear anything you want to wear. Being chubby is not a disability or disease and it doesn't define who you are but your personality and how you carry yourself says a lot. “We need to stand up as Thick Women, face the world and stop being invisible”. 23 Plug Talk Free Willi Francis Junior Williamson AKA Free Willi had an interest in music at an early age, he began with playing instruments in church and later on began writing music. At the age of (15), he and his friends in high school started freestyling on beats even though he wasn’t that good he kept on trying till he figured it out, growing up his sister had him listening to Selina Gomez, he was caught up in the era of high school musical which helped him channel his voice in all his songs. He isn’t a good freestyler but his music hits hard. He began to make beats with fruity loops studio 10 even though they weren’t the best he still continued to make beats and in 2017 he recorded songs but some weren’t dropped because of certain reasons, he states that he wasn’t good at writing and his friends would laugh at him but that didn’t stop his grind, even though people laughed at his craft. As time went his music started to pick and he had the opportunity to perform at Damelin from that day he pushed hard and managed to drop gems of music his musical evolution has been fruitful and his work is being recognized. 24 Writer Masechaba Masie Maaga Creative Director Andiwa Ziqubu Editor Andiwa Ziqubu . Email @[email protected] Instagram @bigbangmag_za Twitter @bigbangmag_za Facebook @bigbangmagZA Contact Details 072 323 0482 2020 © BIG BANG MAG All RIGHTS RESERVED