Artists in the music industry have found a saviour in the person of young and ambitious woman who has sworn to promote performing and recording artists at all costs.
Denga Pearl Nephawe, popularly known as 'Rita Dee' to thousands of fans, has created a popular brand in Limpopo, Rita Dee Entertainment (RDE).
She explained to Limpopo Mirror that artists had the same problem every weekend, where organisers would book them and not pay them or do false advertisement.
“I felt I was the only one who could assist my friends and other upcoming artists who had fallen victim to promoters who abused them,” she said. “I wanted all these artists to actually live their dream and make something out of their talent.”
So, around 2012, she registered a marketing and promotions company with the vision of putting local artists on the African map.
“It all started with passion for music inspired by my lifestyle,” she said. “I was always hanging out with most of my friends who are musicians. Every weekend, we attended different events, so I used to tag along.”
Rita Dee is one woman who formalised the successful talent of Makhadzi, as she worked with her on her fourth album, Muhwalo uya Nndemela. This album went viral in a week. “We will be releasing Makhadzi's first professional DVD on 28 November,” she said.
She recalled that she was always the standout child in her family, always made a lot of noise and played like a boy. “I studied fashion design with Vhembe FET College, but I felt that was not my industry, so I switched to music,” she said.
Rita Dee was also a columnist with the now-defunct Makoya youth magazine, where she wrote gossip. “That column created a lot of hype in the Venrap industry,” she said. “I even had it on Radio Univen fm's Breakfast show on weekends and it was all that rappers would sing about.”
She explained that some people hated her because of the job tag of a gossip journalist. “But others loved me for giving Venrap a twist; as you know, there is no such thing as bad publicity,” she said. “It's better than no publicity at all as long as every fact written is nothing but the truth.”
She singled out Cornerstone's Vhahangwele 'Ngereza' Netshifhefhe as one of her mentors. “I believe we don't stop learning in life,” she said.
When asked to describe herself, she said: “I am entertainmet. Music will never die; it can only lose value.”
Fans can always keep in touch with her on Facebook, Rita Dee Nephawe, or twitter:@RitaDeeDiva1 or BBM 2AB39543.
She concluded the interview with the words “I'm your number one Venrap Diva.”
