DT picked for SADC Dancehall enterprise

Thato Kala | Friday June 13, 2014 17:57

 

Talent of Steel, a Zimbabwe entertainment company, has selected Dancehall artists from Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, South Africa and the host nation for the enterprise.

DT will represent Botswana with Namibia’s Mr Simple also featuring in the project.

The company’s executive director Edmore Ndhlovu, a revered filmmaker in the region, says DT was selected ‘because of his outstanding cultural eclectics’. Ndlhovu is a big fan of DT’s music.

“I instantly fell in love with his music. He is one of the most respected dancehall artists of his time in Botswana and that gave him the access card,” Ndhlovu says.

He is excited about the upcoming Dancehall recording and video shoots, saying: “He has been invited to take part in the recording and video shoot by artists from the SADC region.”

Ndhlovu has previously directed and written a film called Sores Of Emmanuel and a number of television programmes.

He is the same man co-directing a movie, in which Kenyan Oscar award-winner, Lupita Nyongo is set to play a key role.  The movie dubbed Praise Start is about a young woman who goes to Zimbabwe for the Victoria Falls expedition.  Some parts of the movie will be shot in Zimbabwe later this year.

Ndhlovu believes the enterprise is a platform for all participating artists to widen their reach to all other parts of the SADC region.

“The artist video, which is everyone’s favourite in every household and television stations around the world including Channel O has a rich tourism and cultural meaning,” he explains.

Ndlhovu says there would be a week of recording the track and another week for the video adding that the project will take two weeks commencing mid-July in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.

  The project, he says, will bring dancehall artists to accommodate their different languages and styles.

An excited DT says the breakthrough was inevitable and opens up the Zimbabwean and other markets for his music.

“Zimbabwe is a gateway to a huge dancehall market and it has the capacity to mould my sound. Edmore, on the other hand, is a serious and passionate individual,” he says.