Moving on is a good thing and it can be a bad thing. In music business we have seen many group members decide to split and take the route of being a solo artists, some artists move from their original stables to join other stables and some artists change producers.
In most cases the main reason for this moving on always has to do with money then follows everything else. I have noticed that even though this moving on might be a good thing for the artist but it tends to be a bad thing for their music.
Most of the time people who have moved from where they were producing their music before or stop working with those they were working with before has put a strain in their music career. But to some artists moving on proves to be a good thing because they end up doing well in their music and get to be more recognised.
As music lovers we don’t always get the real reason as to why a certain artist has decided to stop working with the people he/she was working with before. We always hear unclear stories. Soon after people hear that a certain artist has moved on from their original stable to join another company, people start predicting the future of that artist. So let’s take a look at artists who moved on but after their music career suffered and those who prospered.
Moving on was bad
Mandoza
This dude was a member of a group called Chiskop. They were successful as a group and working with producer Gabby Le Roux. Mandoza decided in the 90s that he was ready to go solo. He did his first solo album that was produced by Gabby Le Roux, which had a hit song Uzoyithola Kanjani.
Soon after that he made his next album that has a classic hit Nkalakatha. He made other good albums and won many awards. A few years later Mandoza stopped working with Gabby Le Roux and worked with other producers. His music hasn’t been doing well. He is now trying to claim his spot in the music biz.
Lesego
He shot to fame with his hit song Africa in which he featured Jaziel Brothers who were also his producers. He won a Metro FM award for Best New Comer in 2008. What made him and Jaziel Brothers part ways was because of something to do with money.
Zola
He was with Ghetto Ruff since he started in the music biz and he was doing very well. He worked with different producers and won many awards. He opened his own label Guluva entertainment. Last year he released an album called Impepho that many praised as one of his best albums. He even got nominated for Best Kwaito award in Metro FM awards but he didn’t win it. Bad publicity also played a part in his music suffering.
Siphokazi
This shy lady made noise with her hit track Amacala which was on her first album. She was working with Native Rhythms that is owned by Sipho Sithole. Siphokazi did very well at her first album. She won many awards and was the most talked about female artist at that time. Now Siphokazi is no longer with Native Rhythms.
I heard her explaining on Afro Café why she left Native Rhythms. She said she moved from there because the producers wanted her to do the kind of music she doesn’t want to do, which has fluencies of Maskandi even though she wants to do Soul/Jazz music. I must say I didn’t feel the songs she was singing on Afro Cafe they were really different from the music in her first album like the song Amacala.
Brown Dash
He moved from TS records after he had disagreements with the owners of TS records about his contract. He moved to Wheel of Steel productions that is owned by Dj Cleo. I was happy with his move. He and Dj Cleo were promising to come up with something hot but before they could even finish the album they had disagreements which led to them breaking it off.
I heard Brown Dash explaining why he left Dj Cleo’s company saying it was because Dj Cleo wanted him to bad mouth TS records which is something he was not comfortable with. Dj Cleo on the other hand said he just couldn’t t work with lazy people who are busy with drugs. We can now only imagine the hits that Dj Cleo and Brown Dash were going to produce together.
Pitch Black Afro
He made noise with his hit single Pitch Black Afro which was followed by Tofo Tofo. He became big on his first album and was nominated for awards he even won Best Hip Hop award. He was also under Dj Cleo’s Wheel of Steel productions.
After a while problems began between him and Dj Cleo and he ended up moving on. The Pitch Black Afro album was the first and last album he did with Dj Cleo. Now he has vanished. I hear he is trying to resurrect his career. I think if he can work things out with Dj Cleo he might be back in the game strong.
Moving on was good Lira
Do I need to explain? Everyone knows Lira did her self and many South Africans a favour by moving from 999 music to join the company she is with now. This lady has been producing hits ever since she left 999 music. Lira has been winning awards left, right and centre.
She is performing everywhere nationally and internationally. I think mixing business with pleasure is working very well for her because her producer who is now her hubby understands her style of music. She now has a new album titled Returning to Love and it's promising to be one of her best albums.
Khuli Chana
He was a member of the Motswako group Morafe. They were also doing well with their music in the Motswako style Hip Hop. Now Khuli Chana decided to go solo and he is doing well for himself. His recent album Motswako Originator brought a lot of recognition for him. He was even nominated for Best Hip Hop at the Metro FM awards that many believed he was going take it.
Professa
He is one of the first people to introduce Durban Kwaito music with his group mate Tzozo. They did well as a duo but now they seem to have parted ways as Professa now has his hot solo album, University of Kalawa that is filled with hits.
He is one of the few artists if not only who has three songs in the play list of every radio station playing at the moment. These songs are Jazebel, Imoto and Lento are blazing the airwaves and many believe he is going to be scooping those awards this year come SAMA time.
Big Nuzz
They also made a good move by joining Dj Tira’s Afrotainment. Since they’ve been there they’ve been producing nothing but hits all the way. They are now the biggest group in the country. They haven’t disappointed as yet and we hope they won’t.
Before they joined Dj Tira’s Afrotainment, they were signed under the late Patrick “Kid” Mokoena’s stable called Why Not Entertainment. They are now house hold names since their move to Afrotainment. They have three SAMAs in their bag.
Dj Kent
He was part of the duo group Kentphonik that included him and Euphonik. They broke up and began their solo careers. Dj Kent has been making waves as a solo artist. He won a SAMA for Best Compilation for his first solo album. Since then he has been a Dj to be reckon with.
He has been producing hits not only for himself but for other artists like Relo. He recently won two Metro FM awards For Best Collaboration and Hit single of the year for Lets Falls in Love. He is also making waves on 5FM with his ultimix every Fridays at 18:00. I heard they are working on something together with Euphonik as Kentphonik.
This shows the good and bad of moving on for an artist. I think maybe an artist needs to plan when he or she has decided to move from the stable he/she was working with.
Instead of just packing their stuff immediately when something they don’t like happens. Because most of the time you will find that the artist decided to move on without checking what’s good and bad by moving to another stable and just sign with any stable that seems interested in them.
Sometimes I always think they do this to spite their previous bosses. I have noticed that an artist would leave his/her stable this week then next week you read they have signed with a new stable and wonder did this person took time to think and plan before doing all this.
pics: various site on google