Nandi Dlepu

Well known for the creation of authentic, wholesome experiences and content curation, Nandi Dlepu is a multifaceted creative, well-versed in business, communications, entertainment and the production. Through her agency Mamakashaka, she continues to build spaces that operate on the mantra to inspire , empower and entertain which lead to her creating ground-breaking platforms such as Feel Good Series, Bloom, Pantone Sundays and Umi. She joins the Fak’ugei Festival to curate the digital music touchpoint with her expertise.

Q

Please tell us a bit more about Mamakashaka and what she does?

My name is Nandi Dlepu, the founder of Mamakashaka agency, a creative agency rooted in inspiring through everything we do,whether it’s empowering, or entertaining. The agency has birthed platforms like the Feel Good Series, created for emerging musical talent, Pantone Sundays, a space for emerging fashion brands to express themselves, and lastly, Bloom that seeks to inspire, empower, and nurture creative female entrepreneurs and freelancers.

Q

What role will you be playing in the festival?

I’m joining dillion S. phiri to contribute in facilitating the digital music touchpoint for Fak’ugesi. The festival has a handful of focus areas, digital music being one of them amongst digital art, immersive media, digital animation, maker culture and gaming. Traditionally, the festival has focused on one or a handful of these touch points, and for this year’s phygital experience, the curator is dedicated to doing something that represents each pillar.

Q

What does digital music mean, what is it about?

To share context. Firstly, when I got the brief, and dillion told me about the digital music touch point, my reaction was, what isn’t digital music? I think often at the offset of a particular innovation we name things without realising how limiting these phrases are. But for us, digital music is really about the intersection of music and technology. That’s how the festival is defining it. It’s about exploring what music means. We will be doing this by celebrating, profiling and featuring work made from Africa. We want to tell the stories around the creation and distribution of music as well as showcasing experimental formats. In summary, it’s the intersection of music and technology.

Q

Using this year’s theme of ‘build coz you have to’ how have you curated the digital music sessions, and what are your expectations of how it will unfold?

I’ve tried to find artists, producers and DJ’s who have experience in building music and have layered sets. For example, we have Nonku phiri and as many know, she’s someone that builds a soundscape as she’s performing. So we just thought about people, and tried to match them to more than just the theme because they live in the intersection of music and technology. The sessions are built to provide a lot more clarity on digital music, also looking at the theme in it’s entrepreneurial element of building the panel discussions where we will be discussing how we can empower independent artists. In addition, we have a panel discussion that features the Head of Southern and East Africa, Jade Leaf, from tunecore which is a digital music distribution company. These discussions will provide

meaningful, empowering ways to explore how artists are making money on their music, how they are marketing their music, and how they are creating sustainable careers. So I am really excited about the types of conversations that we’ve also curated for the programme. That will not just be tied into the definition of digital music, but be meaningful and engaging.

Q

“MY ‘WHY’WAS TOMEANINGFULLYINSPIRE,EMPOWER& ENTERTAIN.”

How has your experience in business, communication, entertainment and production shaped your thinking around exploring digital music, looking at the infinite possibilities of innovation?

I’ll speak specifically on the work that I’ve done regarding music experiences...for instance, Feel Good Series. I think in my four years of building the platform, for me as a person and a small company, my reason was to meaningfully inspire, empower and entertain. Those are the pillars of everything I do, it has to hit those notes.

The Feel Good Series aims to understand how to meaningfully empower artists, we’ve specifically chosen to be a platform for emerging artists, and that comes with the responsibility to immerse ourselves in innovation and in practice that will contribute to the empowerment of the artists we feature. Through the intersection of music and technology we can amplify their stories and help them break out. It’s been an interesting journey that has led to partnerships with tunecore, and added definition to how we build independent, yet sustainable stories around the creation and distribution of music as well as showcasing experimental formats. In summary, it’s the intersection of music and technology.

Q

You’ve done a great job at empowering young artists through the platforms you’ve created, Fak’ugesi has a strong mandate of doing the same but now focusing it on the digital music offering, how are you powering up opportunities for artists where they can interact with technology and culture?

We have tried to keep a handful of our featured artists as part of a full journey for us. We want to give them exposure to the different pillars of the festival whilst providing means for them to network. Nonku phiri is a really good example because she kicks us off at the launch on the 14th of October 2021 with a DJ set, then returns to a creation panel discussion on the 23rd of October 2021 that I will be hosting. So I think even how we’ve chosen to curate the programme, we’ve looked at having wholesome journeys with some of our artists, you know, and I think that’s a really interesting way of integrating them, and immersing them into our programme with hope that it inspires them to do more. For myself and dillion, even when we are having

conversations with people we book for the programme, we urge them to plug in and register for the full festival to build engagement around the theme of digital innovation. No matter what pillar you are creating in, it’s always good to be aware of the full programme and be fully engaged, and that’s part of how we aim to empower.

Q

What does the ecosystem of digital music look like economically, socially and culturally?

From my background with Feel Good Series, it doesn’t seem sustainable for a lot of artists. That’s why we have many multifaceted creatives because they have to make it in other ways, consequently, an ecosystem that functions well shows that passion is sustainable. That is why I corroborated for the inclusion of TuneCore, they are a digital distribution leader. This is a good theme to explore especially for Fak’ugesi it will definitely bring it forward.

Music is an expression of beauty and emotion that is understood universally by all cultures in our societies. In what ways can music made in our continent be amplified in games and digital music experiences, and why is that important?

This speaks to exposure, and how we are using digital technology to get our music out there. It’s about creating moments, something similar to what I do when I create these experiences through Mamakashaka. The focus is on extending what is available to us digitally through marketing, where you know that you need to create content, plan a digital marketing strategy and understand the language, with the intention to end up on these collaborative platforms. This is why I am excited about this year’s festival because you have people who wouldn’t ordinarily privy into each other’s industries, now having the opportunity to do so. I enjoy the full breadth of the festival and I can expect some level of collaboration.

As someone with experience in running a marketing agency, what gaps do you see in the ownership and distributions of digital music and can it be bridged?

There is a huge gap, and part of the festival’s mandate is to build the bridge. We have to, but moreover, Fak’ugesi is an annual festival with a lot of exposure. For example, women in music focused platforms are constantly engaging with the music community on how they should be empowering themselves, distributing, licensing and using tech tools.

Interview by Anastatia Nkhuna@mamakashaka