Prince Kaybee’s Project Hope aims to bring positivity to SA women in the midst of rising GBV incidents

Prince Kaybee. Picture: Instagram

Prince Kaybee. Picture: Instagram

Published Sep 3, 2020

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Johannesburg - Project Hope is an initiative started by award-winning DJ and producer Prince Kaybee, real name Kabelo Motsamai, to find talented unsigned vocalists.

“What’s happening in the country right now, where women are just looking over their shoulders every time, we really needed something positive for them. Every time I go into Twitter people are being kidnapped and raped. So I thought to do something positive.”

The call to audition was shared on social media with the intention of selecting one winner the hit-maker would choose to produce a single with. Instead of settling on one person, he ended up with 10 vocalists.

“It was a bit unfair to choose just one person because of the overwhelming talent that was showcased. The 10 vocalists will feature on 10 different songs. This is something we want to do annually but it will depend on sponsors and budget. A lot had to be saved and prepared for this initiative.”

The women are currently on a five-day music production boot camp at Universal Music in Rosebank.

On Wednesday, they took part in a workshop session with some of Prince Kaybee’s industry friends and colleagues such as Kelly Khumalo, DJ Tira and Msaki, and later took part in a jam session with bass player and performer Aus’ Tebza.

“I don’t want them to come into this and go out of it the same. They will learn a lot of things about the industry. From recording to marketing and all those kind of things that make an artist. It’s a known fact that 20% of people make it in the industry and the other 80% don’t. But at least when they are done here they will have the information to equip themselves for the future.”

The process of getting to know the women’s voices has been a challenge, but it is a work in process.

“I know the strengths and weaknesses of the ladies so I know what I’m working with. It’s going to be different genres. I am a proper house head, but because everyone has their own unique personality it won’t be a full-on house album. We don’t want to enforce what we like on other people so it’s going to be a challenge, but we will figure it out.”

Prince Kaybee has yet to decide on a release date for Project Hope.

“We are still in the early days of the project and working around the budget so it’s a case where I’m working against time. So I don’t know when exactly I will be putting it out, but when it is done people will know.”

The Star

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