Towdeemac probably one of the music industry’s best kept secrets. He has a wealth of knowledge of the music business for over 15 years starting out as part of Morafe, a producer, solo artist and lecturer! JoziGist sat down with the talented emcee to find out how he does it all and get schooled by the man with the music midas touch.
Maftown and Motswako
I suspect there has to be something in the Maftown water because there is no other way to explain how so many immensely talented celebrities hail from the city; from Cassper Nyovest, Khuli Chana, Fifi Cooper, HHP and we can add Towdeemac to the illustrious list.
Towdeemac has a more logical explanation for the surge of Maftown artists that dominate the airwaves; it’s called Bop TV. Institutions like Bop TV, radio BOP, radio Mmabatho and the Marang Awards gave the kids growing up in Maftown in the 90’s the belief that a career in the entertainment industry was achievable. He recalls the time when ‘Top of the Bop Pops’ started with only kids that finished primary school! There are celebrities like of Melanie Bala, Bob Mabhena, Tim Modise, Glen Lewis and Phat Joe who were developed within the industry.
Maftown is the birthplace of Motswako which strictly means ‘mix’, but this term has permeated hip hop culture to the point where it is interchangeably used to refer to ‘swag’. According to Towdeemac, there is a big debate on where the word originates from, but he remembers Stoan of Bongo Maffin being the first to coin the term in the song ‘The Way Kungakhona’. To Towdeemac the term extends beyond the loose references, but it is a way of life and epitomizes the way he does everything. He lives and dies by Motswako.
Backstage Lectures
The Backstage Lectures simplify the music industry for those kids who just want to be famous but don’t have the money for formal education. Towdeemac goes to community radio stations to get details of artists who have been playlisted and those who were rejected if their music didn’t make the cut in terms of technical specs set by the radio station. “I select these kids as my audience because they have something to learn. They get turned away but no one ever tells them this is what you should do in order to get playlisted.” says Towdeemac.
The Backstage Lectures focus on the two core aspects of the music industry being music technology and music business. The music technology component explores the technical elements of creating a song from microphone techniques, mixing techniques all the way to mastering. The music business module focuses on how to protect intellectual property, packaging and selling music either directly to consumers or to record labels. At a recent Backstage Lecture held at a school he asked students to bring their parents, siblings or relatives with a career in law, marketing or accounting. Generally, these are the services provided by a record label. The Backstage Lectures can equip the professionals to understand how to apply their expertise within the context of the music industry through mentorship and coaching from Towdeemac.
The integrity of the Backstage Lectures is in the overall objective of providing under privileged young people with the best information to make their own decisions on how to direct their careers. It is for this reason that Towdeemac is currently self-funding the Backstage Lecturers. Although he is in talks with record labels, it is important for the Backstage Lecturers to maintain their independence. Due to limited resources he is unable to reach as many young people as he would like to. In order to find out how to get involved with the Backstage Lectures get in touch with Towdeemac ([email protected]).
New Album
“Helping musicians make music” is Towdeemac’s first love, but he is a musician in his own right and his follow up to his debut album ‘Lesson One’ will be released this year. The album is aptly titled ‘Extra Class’ where he features new artists like C-Tea from Ghana, Sean Pages, Tuks, HHP and Donald.
He was tight lipped about the release date of the album, he jokingly said, the reason being out of fear of jinxing the drop. “The practicalities of releasing an album do not solely depend on the musician” Towdeemac explained. “Behind the scenes are elements of distribution, mastering, artwork and others which will affect the release and it is best for him to have everything confirmed prior to announcing a date.”
Clearly Kanye West should take a page out of Towdeemac’s book with all the false starts around the release of his latest album ‘The Life of Pablo’, which is coincidentally one of Towdeemac’s favourite albums and Kanye being one icon to the icon himself.
African hip hop: current and future
According to Towdeemac “the South African hip hop industry is currently where the American hip hop industry was in the 90’s so this is the era of the independent record labels.” Ambitious Records rocked the Metro FM SA awards this year with artists like Fifi Cooper as did Family Tree Media in the previous year with Cassper Nyovest. “If possible, kids would rather start their own record labels than get signed by the big record labels.”
Towdeemac has an ear for good music and he gave a free lesson to us on various rap styles:
– Rappers vary in style from story tellers, punch line smiths, flow-ers and innovators to highlight a few.
Innovators would be rappers like Young Thug, who in his way created a new sound and locally we have K.O. with the genre of Skhanda rap.
A flow smith is someone like former group mate Khuli Chana.
A story teller would be Cassper Nyovest or Jay Z or J Cole where they tell a story through their music- where content overcomes delivery.
An all rounder is Kendrick Lamar because he does it all; the Grammy nomination for album of the year for “How to Pimp a Butterfly” is evidence of this.
The great DJ’s like Khaled and Dimples are what Towdeemac calls “Impassioned Fans” because they can put together all the elements necessary to make a song hot without being musicians themselves.
Advice to those who want to enter music industry
He understands that impatience, hunger and frustration don’t only come from the desire for fame; but deeply wanting to prove to the family that music is a viable career option. He advises young artists to “try to bring the music closer to home by writing about their situation. Write a song for your mother.” This will help your family to understand that music may be a change for your family’s circumstances.
He ends with “if music is your life, it should be the answer to your problems right now.”
Keep up with Towdeemac
Social media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter): @towdeemac
YouTube: Towdeemac Official
Website: www.tswakville.com
Events
Tswak with me Sundays: Benjamins (Eco Park, Centurion), 13 March 2016 -hosted by Towdeemac and Tuks. Follow social media for more details.
Maftown meets Pitori: Maftown Rugby Stadium on 26 March. Tickets on sale at Computicket.