Female DJs urged to persevere

DJ Mzoe, real name Sibanengi Mzotshe Ndebele, said the industry tended to intimidate up-and-coming female disc jockeys, but they should persevere.
The prominent DJ recently established a school for deejaying which also caters for female DJs.
The school has so far taken at least five local DJs under its wing and out of the five, only one is female.
“I have managed to set up a school of DJs where they are groomed, not only to be quality disc jockeys, but professional ones as well. This will help them take their deejaying career to a whole different level,” said Mzoe.
DJ Luvistoe, as he is also affectionately known by ladies, said he would love to see more female DJs in showbiz, but was somehow disappointed by society’s perceptions towards this kind of career.
“There is so much talent among female DJs, but surprisingly the talent is not being explored to the full. I think society has a negative perception towards this kind of career where one gets to work during the night, let alone in a male dominated area.
“It is a pity that so much talent has gone to waste because of what people say or think about female DJs. Which is one of the reasons why I have established a school for deejaying that also grooms our very own up-and-coming C’ndos and Zinhles-to-be,” said said the funky hairstyled DJ.
Lamenting some of the biggest challenges he faced in setting up the school, Mzoe cited a lack of funds to rent a proper place for such an initiative. He also indicated how most of the local equipment was very expensive.
“I have stumbled on a number of obstacles while trying to set up the school and the biggest of them all was sponsorship. All along I have been using money from my clothing label and graphic designs to establish the school. But that is not enough as the demand is too high,” said the DJ.
DJ Mzoe, who is at the top of his game, recently scooped the Miller DJ of the Year Award, also proved to be a visionary disc jockey who has hopes of setting up a DJs association. He said this would see up-and-coming DJs meeting established DJs for mentorship.
“I am very optimistic that in the near future I would have set up an association for DJs where we would get together and help up-and-coming DJs.
“This would help them know their rights because in my experience as a DJ, it is never easy to get paid in full after a gig. So if we form an association we will be able to represent DJs so that both old and new players in the sector would be in a position to earn the fruits of their labour,” he said.
Well known for his motivational “sign-outs”, the veteran DJ urged up-and-coming DJs to take their careers seriously and find proper channels of doing things as it takes patience and dedication to make it to the top.
“I urge up-and-coming DJs to take this career seriously. School first then try to meet with demands of the industry from an entrepreneur perspective,” he said.