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ASNDA

Today our guest is Asanda Madikane alias, ASNDA. She is a South African, living in Brussels Belgium. Asanda is currently launching herself into the music business as a solo pop artist. We have conducted an interview with her.



What made the decision for you to presue music as a solo artist?

I just had enough. I had enough of running around making everyone happy and building other people’s dreams. I’m an entrepreneur in body and a performing artist in spirit. My heart, my love for my family and life was pulling me in all directions and it was just exhausting. I decided to align everything I did with my true self. I have been working on myself since I was 20 and it’s a long and difficult journey working on yourself. It’s never over and one has to do it to have a sense of peace with oneself. It was difficult to take the leap because I knew I had to leave the person I had always been.

For those who don’t know you yet. Who were you and who is ASNDA?

I am very much part of everything I was before I starting recording music. I’m an emotional intellect, so I want to absorb and be everything to express myself. In work, I have a long and successful career in film and Televison as a director and producer, an online entrepreneur with many wins and misses, an MBA scholar, a fashion photographer and a brand consultant. I am a wife and mother of two, so I have spent my life playing the game, you know… go to school,be a good daughter, be a good student, find a job, get married, have kids ecetera. I did that, but I was not fulfilled. I wanted more. I wanted more of me. So one day I said crew it, Im going to do me. I want to be Asanda, but asanda dot com was taken so, ASNDA would be for my audience, and one A, was just for me. (she laughs)

How do you position yourself? What kind of special talent or skills do you possess?

I position myself as a pop artist, as it gives me incredible range to do what ever I want in any genre. If I decide to mix Country music with Electric dance music with pop lyrics then Why not? As long as it gets people dancing and sends the right message. Talent is underestimated. There are so many talented people who can sing, exceptional vocal musical genius that can change the world… no one will ever hear them, with out the required skills. Luckily, skills can be acquired and talent can be mastered, so there is always room to grow. I spend a lot of time developing my mindset, my Marketing, my taste and skills that I don’t have, in order to have a competitive edge in this over crowed market. And I think that’s why it has taken me so long to make my decision to be a musician. I was acquiring skills to live my dream. I had to learn to be resourceful. I think that is my greatest skill. Skill is nothing without passion, passion is what keeping you going when you are not feeling at your best.

 

How is it possible to disrupt the music industry with basic tools?

Let me start by say; (shouting) “ Thank goodness for technology”. Oh my word! Can you image trying to get your music out there, 10 years ago. Grinding! Now I know why Jay Z sings about hustling. I personally think, if you can get your hands on a smartphone or computer, that connects to the Internet. You can start anything. Like anything, but you still need to hustle.

The tools are endless and not exhausted to get your music out there. It’s a matter of being strategic and deciding how you want to do things before someone else comes around and tells you how you should do things. That falls in line with disrupting the music industry. It will be the different ways that people share music and receive music that will disrupt the music industry, and it should not start by asking for permission to do so. Gary Vaynerchuk says it best, “Content is king, but marketing is queen and runs the household”

I believe that the value that you give in delivering your music, is worth the cost to your fans. We have read about Nipsey Hustle selling his album for $100. It is possible. Everything is possible as long as you give something of value to your fans.

Who do you consider is the most influential Pop artist ever?

That’s a really difficult question. I’m an 80’s baby. MTV, Television, radio and my parents, my siblings, my neighbourhood, my school, prevented me from just listening to one genre of music. There definitely isn’t just one but just to name a few of the females who impacted me the are, The Supremes, Miss Tina Turner, Whitney Housten, Alanis Morriset, TLC, Beyonce, Adele and Lauryn Hill. All of them for different reasons and that what makes it so beautiful.

If you can have it your way, which musician's world would you most like to live in?

My own. In my own terms, in my own way. I want to love what I do, work hard, challenge myself and create something beautiful. I want to know that when I lay dying in my cranky old age, I can smile and say; “I did good. And that’s ok with me”
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Location: Brussels, Belgium

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