The people’s Makhadzi
Performer impresses and breaks dry season of two years
The local entertainment industry has Gilbert Promotions for bringing the spark back following this past weekend’s highly charged performance by the adored international artist, Makhadzi who filled up the Molapo Stanbic Piazza after a dry season of two years.
When the Covid- 19 pandemic started, everything was at a stand still and those within the entertainment industry almost gave up as they were largely affected. Nonetheless, President of Botswana Entertainment Promoters Association ( BEPA) also owner of Gilbert Promotions, Gilbert Seagile, better known as PP Wa Pimp raised his hand to fix things for the industry. Everything looked epic for the show, except the fact that it was overcrowded in light of the Covid situation. All the artistes of the night gave their best performances with the crowd impatiently waiting to meet and watch the main act of the night, the South African Makhadzi. She did not disappoint but gave that sterling performance that everyone seemed to have anticipated. Amidst the critics that the star often gets as she travels around, she was totally impressed by the love and support expressed by local fans. “Thank you Botswana, the love and support is always overwhelming,
I am very thankful,” she says. She further encouraged fellow artistes to continue giving good music to their fans, so that they have something to celebrate them for. For the two collaborations, she has with Charma Gal and Vee, their fans really appreciated them and agreed that music has got no boundaries. Seagile tells BG Style that what made the show unique, is the fact that they allowed upcoming creatives in the industry to be part of the show because they are trying to build something new for the industry. “We want to get past the idea of using same known creatives, because we have realized that this does not contribute to the growth of the industry. We are always on the look out to see what’s new within the industry and as Gilbert Promotions, we are entitled to grow this new talent too. This is why we had creatives like Hey Nyena and BJB in our lineup,” he says. P. P also acknowledges that the creative industry is broad, and this is why they did not deny one talented makeup artist, Oarabile Pheto of Beauty with Bobo, a chance when she expressed interest in doing Makhadzi’s makeup. He was impressed that the beautician was recognized across borders through social media for the good face beat she did on the star, Makhadzi. “This is the kind of growth, support and motivation that we need within this industry and we are just ready to shape it because we want our presence as Botswana creatives to be felt internationally.” He also acknowledged other positives from the show. “One thing that has also impressed me much is the fact that the security was tight, to a point that we did not record any criminal incident. It was just evident that people were hungry for fun and that is what they came for.” He also tells this publication that they have arranged the Makhadzi tour as ‘ The People’s Festival’ to allow Makhadzi’s fans to engage with her through live performance. The name of the tour is ‘ The people’s festival tour with Makhadzi’ and expected to start in Francistown on November 26th, and would be in Maun on December 22nd.