Gospel star Dumi Mkokstad has sparked a heated debate after he called for KwaZulu-Natal artists to step up.
The gospel singer went live on Facebook on Thursday to express concern about the standard KZN artists display in their work.
Dumi said what compelled him to make such statements was after seeing an artist on TikTok he felt their passion and dedication to their craft was undeniable, but when he looked at KZN he felt they lacked that.
Gospel star Dumi Mkokstad
“When you are looking for artists, people usually start in KZN because we are working hard and excelling in every department, in every genre. It’s sad now. I was thinking of what happened to some of the most amazing artists we have in KZN. I was just concerned. I wonder what we need to do to bring back what we had. One of the contributing factors to artists becoming comfortable might be the government. As much as our government helped us a lot, it affected us to a certain level because the drive and hunger we had when we didn’t have another option was no longer there and that has affected KZN music,” Dumi said.
“Our artists in KZN are no longer visible, we don’t see them. Artists who would usually be making sales and topping charts, but we bump into them at events and they can only sing their old songs. We should try to focus on our craft.”
Dumi went on to speak of a WhatsApp group he is part of that includes KZN artists, but did not mention any names. He said he felt while they were active in the group they were failing to be active in the music scene.
“I’m going to be honest. It offends me as someone who loves your music, as someone who cares about KZN music I would have loved to see. What I said was out of love and love for KZN music.”
Dumi said he had no problem with the events side of the business, but it should not come at the cost of the quality of music and creativity.
“I apologise to those who have been offended by what I said. It was coming from a good place. I did not want to speak negatively or low of anyone. I wanted to encourage us, as good singers of KZN, to pull up our socks in the music space. Let’s be honest, it’s no longer the same. Let’s work harder, let’s try to be more creative with our music and bring young artists who are coming up.”
Watch the full video below:
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