Old Mutual AMPD Studios celebrated Heritage Day with the legendary songstress Sibongile Khumalo and multi-award-winning vocalist Amanda Black, as they facilitated this month’s Icons Hero conversation in front of the next generation of performers who came dressed in their best African attires.
This AMPD Icons Hero Conversation featured an iconic female and spiritually empowering duo. Amanda Black and Sibongile Khumalo amazed the crowd of upcoming musicians, creatives and music entrepreneurs, after their collaborative and solo performances and while swopping survival stories in the music industry.
Joined by Metro FM and broadcasted in front of a live audience, Amanda started by sharing her love for music. “I knew from a very young age that all I wanted to do was sing, so I worked on putting myself out there as much as possible”. While Sibongile Khumalo shared a different view about her upcoming, “The 70s, 80s and 90s were a difficult time to make a living through music as we were oppressed and called rebels when we sang about the political struggle”. Both vocalists touched on how times have changed, looking at the music landscape today and the consumption of Social Media, upcoming artists were urged to always stay true to themselves and have a vision.
“You need to stand by your craft, and have people that support your journey, not drive it, you are the one that needs to drive it. If need be, take time away from Social Media, as it’s often filled with information that might affect or derail you from your vision”, said Amanda.
With Social Media often derailing and putting the youth under pressure. They were advised to stay grounded and focused on what they believed work for them if they wanted to stay relevant for a long time in the music industry. “What people portray on Social Media might not even be how their real lives are, so don’t allow what you see on Social Media to determine your idea of what success is. Commit yourself to a goal, don’t conform to what you don’t know, let the spirit and soul guide you and, the rest will follow”, said Sibongile.
The Head of Financial Education John Manyike also shared a few words on the aspect of controlling your presence just as you should with your finances. “Challenges are different from artist to artist, but if we don’t know how to control our money, it’ll control itself, therefore it is important to know how to direct where we want our money to go, so it can save us on rainy days”, concluded John.