Gospel talent Zaza Mokhethi opening doors to new artists
WITH the music industry known to be a highly competitive domain, esteemed gospel singer Zaza Mokhethi is changing the narrative through her mentorship programme.
Mokhethi’s passion to lower the ladder and uplift others was the motivation behind Women in Chronicle, one of her continued women empowerment programmes that she hopes will blossom beyond South African shores.
To mark Women’s Day on August 9, the Diphiri hitmaker returns with the second chapter of the programme, where she teaches young women about the crucial ins and outs of the music industry.
“Women in Chronicle is a programme that I decided to start last year. My husband and I decided to do the membership programme. We recorded Chapter 1 last year on Women’s Day. So this year, we did auditions last week, looking for women in different provinces.
“And they came in numbers, so we are recording them again on Women’s Day, August 9. I’ll also be recording, so it will be two recordings,” said Mokhethi. “The reason why we are doing it on Women’s Day is that the whole project is about women’s empowerment, so we chose Women’s Day because it is a day where we celebrate women.”
Empowering women was meaningful to her, she added. She wants to put the gospel industry on a new trajectory “because it is maledominated and most women do not see eye to eye”.
She said she created this platform in the hope that women in the gospel industry would come together instead of competing.
Sharing more details about the mentorship programme, she said she gives young girls an insight into the important things to note, particularly the subject of contracts and the business side of music.
Mokhethi further shares that most artists sign their contracts out of excitement without taking note of important information that later becomes an issue.
“It is important that we teach each other these things because this a mentorship programme where I am teaching all these things,” said Mokhethi.
The Imbewu hitmaker said seeing other people flourish in the music industry was meaningful to her as she was devoted to introducing new artists into the industry.
“I always get fulfilled to see that someone that I gave a platform and an opportunity is flourishing.
“I think that is my biggest highlight in the music industry, because if you can look at all my albums – the ones that I did under my company – I have been introducing new artists on stage,” Mokhethi said.