MASHUDU SADIKE
A decade in the clustered music industry is an achievement if you would consider the amount of talent that South Africa boasts in the production world.
For DJ Edit SA – real name Kennedy Mudzuli – the decade he has spent producing music has been a reflection on the road to tranquillity, literally.
The veteran Journalist and editor has spent sleepless nights cooking up a new offering, a single, Road To Tranquillity which hit the information superhighway at the beginning of this month.
The song dropped worldwide through Ingrooves Africa, in association with DJ Edit SA Music.
According to the afro house producer, the haunty beats and catchy artwork of his new single tell a story of a personal journey and more than just a song.
“This is a song for those who have seen it all and are on the road to a peaceful place … a road to tranquillity.”
The founder of DJ Edit SA Music record label said he was not done for the year just yet.
“The party never stops. I have a two-track project for the festive season due to drop early in December,” he said.
DJ Edit concedes that it was not easy surviving in the clustered industry in the last 10 years.
“My genre of music is not among the best sellers in the world, but I have done relatively well in the 10 years I’ve been doing this. This is based on the number of streams and downloads for each release. This is a motivation to keep putting more music out there.
“Road to Tranquillity is a personal reflection. After being battered and battling several storms, I embarked on a self-healing process, and I’m now in a good space … in that time, I learnt to be content whatever the circumstances. The more I battled, the more I remained resolute to serve God while He worked out the next chapter for me behind the scenes in his own time.”
His defiance and determination kept him going.
“God had been faithful. He has delivered me to a better place. The single is a reflection of the road I travelled on the way to tranquillity.”
The renowned producer’s advice to fellow musicians was to be their own biggest fans.
“Success is measured in different ways. When fellow musicians and producers, and music compilers, recognise your craft... when each release reaches several thousands of ears, the day you become your biggest fan, then you have achieved the ultimate success.
“It’s not about competition, but there are other genres, for instance amapiano and gospel, that are guaranteed best sellers. I’m happy to be part of a generation that is keeping afro house alive during these times … when fellow musicians ask for advice, I’ve always said to them ‘do music as a side hustle, for the love of music, not as a full-time source of income’ to avoid getting frustrated and disappointed.”
He added that the biggest challenge for upcoming artists remained the marketing, which didn’t come cheap.
“We are in an era where just dropping music and hoping for the best no longer works. Established artists have marketing teams behind them and are able to pump money into social media and radio campaigns. A social media campaign for instance, can set you back between R15 000 and R50 000, results guaranteed, and this is the money that as producers and artists, we simply don’t have … if we love our craft and will soldier on, multimillion digital streams and downloads or not,” he said.
Apart from dropping new music, DJ Edit SA also produced and released Promises by Nosy Lee, and through his label, released new music by Percy Sleash SA and Black Money. In addition, he co-produced and released Isikhalo with Laerhnzo & Tozee and Nosy Lee.
Pretoria News