Some artistes portray fake lifestyles – Abel Chungu
Gospel artiste Abel Chungu Musuka says Zambia lacks a structured music industry, arguing that it operates more as a marketplace; where sustainability and growth are hindered by the absence of proper systems.
He observes that while there is a lot of creative activity, the country is yet to build a true industry which ensures predictable income for artistes and supporting sectors like fashion, dance and modelling.
Speaking when he featured on the 50k podcast with Benas Banda recently, Abel said while he appreciates the “fake it till you make it” mentality, there’s a dangerous culture of selling illusions rather than real blueprints for success in Zambia’s creative space.
He observed that some artistes and creatives were doing all kinds of crazy things to make it appear as though they were very successful.
“I’ll say this, we don’t have an industry, we have a market and a place, that’s my brutal take on it. We don’t have an industry; we have a marketplace. Marketplace, you can’t charge us, show up at Matebeto, and they’re dealing in the same thing. And even you, when you say ‘that’s the spot where they cook it nicely’, it’s just preference. You have a favourite, right? That’s a marketplace. An industry is the people with distribution; meat, shani [other commodities], [and] what not. It goes from the guy who’s got the cow horn locked down; the guy who’s growing the cow knows exactly how much he will make by the time it gets there. What we lack is an industry. An industry is strong. And this is my frustration sometimes, even with corporate or government, or people who don’t understand that when you undermine the Zambian music industry by not helping it become an industry…Look, when there is money, you’ll find Xaven will need a designer. Then you scrutinise her about her outfit, because she realises she needs to invest in a designer. So then, the fashion industry starts benefiting, right? There are dancers, because they realise, snap, there are a lot of music videos being shot. So someone can even open a production house just for dancers, right? Because you realise you need dancers all the time, and that’s what everybody eats,” he said.
Abel explained why he doesn’t subscribe to the “fake it till you make it” mindset.
“So while we are doing a lot, like, I appreciate the ‘fake it till we make it’ kind of thing, it’s like when somebody tells me, ‘oh, I’m a model’, I’m not trying to hate, but look, doing the mathematical breakdown of somebody who is in the industry, I’m like: you model where? How often? Are you on a retainer anywhere? Like, who? Like, I do music videos, I’m like, how many? You know what I’m saying? How much are they paying you for each music video? And I’m so like, I’ve been on a billboard, I know how much, and that’s not sustainable. That’s not long-term. If I bump into a girl in Milan and she goes, ‘I’m a model’, I’m like, yeah, I can see. I see that there is a system that’s supporting your lifestyle. Even though sometimes those places have a bit of that ‘fake it till you make it’ vibe too, there’s so much more going on. You can actually see why there’s a need for dancers, makeup artists, different things, [and] what not. But for someone to come and tell me, ‘no, no, no’, to make it flat, like, you can’t sell me the flashiness. That’s why, for me, I sit back like, guys, even people who are like, ‘oh, someone has bought this…’ I feel like there’s so much we lie about to people who are looking at us from the outside. There are so many lies, and I feel that it’s dangerous. I know we’re trying to get away with the whole, ‘we are celebrities and stars’, but I genuinely feel there’s a part of it that’s a lie. Because, I feel if you ask me, as Abel, ‘how do you make your money?’ I can kind of write you a blueprint. I can say, ‘okay, this is how I did it, what, what, what’,”he said.
“But there are things I’ve seen in the industry where somebody is doing this and that, and then, ‘oh, they bought this car, they’ve done this…’ I’m like, guys, I’ve done the math, there is no blueprint. And the problem with not having a blueprint is that you’re selling people fantasy. And this is why the witchdoctors in Malawi are getting customers, because, bro, it’s a real story, this stuff. It’s a real story. Niggas are flying over, and divas, just to visit. Another one is coming from Kabulonga, going to Matero to bathe in whatever, because ‘I need to flex on these people’. This is what we’re dealing with. And it’s because you’re selling people lies. You don’t want to sell people a blueprint. If I made it because of someone I know, I better say, ‘I had this plan, I had this business, but then I bumped into the right people’, and that also does exist. There are those people who show up in your life to say, ‘we can do this’. And I would tell you, I remember when I signed with a certain label I was with at some point, there were a lot of offers on the table, money, different things, but one of the things I was careful about was I wanted to control my own masters, my YouTube page. I also told them, like, ‘listen, only the music that you guys pay for, that’s where we have shares.”
