BY SILISIWE MABALEKA AFTER realising that local artistes are often hardly noticed and their dreams fizzle out into despair, Pacific Cigarette Company has decided to come to their aid.
Pacific general manager Itai Watinaye said the programme, set to start in June, sought to give back to the community.
“We believe in empowering youths. Bulawayo is a stronghold of arts, but nothing has been done to give them exposure,” he said.
“We have programmes lined up which will cover 10 provinces to identify talent in the music industry. Bulawayo artistes has lagged behind in terms of support. For now, we have leads, but we prefer up-and-coming artistes so that they get exposure.”
The company decided to embark on the programme after realising the strong impact of local artistes on its brand.
“We have negotiated big deals for local artistes. We understand that life is all about people enjoying themselves and it is a choice to be happy. Amapiano is popular genre here in Bulawayo as it is in South Africa. So we want to equip the local DJs so that they reach the level of DJ Tamuka, Master KG, DJ Tira and others,” he said.
Watinaye said since local artistes need exposure, they deliberately decided to help them grow after noticing a gap.
“We want to support the same community that is consuming our products. We believe local is lekker; we will bring international artistes so that our artistes can learn from them. We are not shy to be associated with up-and-coming artistes because we understand the impact that the gold leaf has on the value chain. It creates beneficiation and changes the lives of many,” he added.
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