29 Aug 2017

Through perseverance and taking her craft seriously, songstress Antonelle Setlhare has managed to make a name for herself in the music industry.

The afro house music songstress is amongst the few that practice professionalism and creating quality products.

The three albums: The Main, Diamond Refined and Rhythm Change saw her scoping the Best House BOMU award for two years in a row in 2015 for her second album and third album in 2016.  

She has been nominated for Best New Comer, Best Female Artist, Best Packaged Album, Best Music Video in the BOMU awards for her first album although she did not manage to win, but the mere fact that she was nominated shows how determined she is to reach greater heights.

In order to ensure her visibility, Antonelle organised a product launch, an exclusive event for the media, where she packaged her brand for journalists to communicate to the public.

Giving a keynote address at the launch, Botswana Music Union (BOMU) patron, Kagiso Ntime said they have pledged to work full time to ensure that they groom and produce quality artists.

Ntime said he had known Antonelle since she got into the music industry, and that she has separated herself from other artists because she takes herself seriously and that her work was professional and mindful of the quality of her products.

He added that quality and professionalism characterise Antonelle, and that it was the reason she was nominated four times for awards and managed to scoop two.  

“Many have been in the industry for decades and have been trying over and over again, and do not have a single album under their belts, but Antonelle has managed to steal the show as new as she is in the industry, and it is a remarkable achievement,” he said.

He added that it was because of the two critical factors of being professional and producing quality work. He also noted that many artistes lacked professionalism, and were not serious about the quality of their product.

Ntime challenged other artistes to emulate Antonelle, saying it was the only way that the industry could move forward.

He said Antonelle has already proved herself, and that it was now time for her to take her music beyond the borders.

“I would like to now face government and challenge them to create a national arts council catering for all forms of arts as it is needed not just to regulate the arts industry, but to also facilitate a conducive environment for the artistic talent,” he said.

Ntime said the council would regulate and facilitate for the arts, hence their proposal to have a national arts council.

He said the council would also give artistes the opportunity to showcase their talent and to market themselves. ENDS