Joe Capels re-ignition
By Munashe Rungano
Having taken a sabbatical from music to complete studies and establish his career as a banker South Africa based hip hop artiste Joseph Capels, has announced his return to the music scene.
Born in Zimbabwe but raised in Angola and Cuba –Capels told Showbiz from his Johannesburg base that apart from re launching his career with a new album he had also registered his brand with South African Music Rights Organisation(SAMRO) to ensure proper and effective marketing.
“Having been in this game for long you get to know all the tricks which can either make or break your career but there is no short cut. I took a three year break from music and almost quit altogether because of unscrupulous producers who would hold on to my music for long without release,” he said
The artiste who has up to 60 recorded tracks said he had boosted his career by signing a one million rand publishing deal with Sheer Africa.
“I hope the deal will see my work being propelled to dizzy heights. The main objective of the deal is to launch an aggressive marketing of my music on the internet and various media spaces,” he said.
Drawing inspiration from other Zim Hip Hop stars namely Mr Cee and Alishas Musimbe, popularly known as Maskiri the singer said he was targeting the youth to embrace his music.
“I am focused on the youths basically those in high school and also the ones in varsity because l think they have a homogenous mindset, and that also in my own view it/s an ever growing market so banking on them surely will see my career soaring in the right direction,” said Capels.
“This is why l also chose to be South African based because when it comes to Hip hop l feel Zimbabwe is still far behind when it comes to accepting it as a competitive genre. You can tell how the reception is down here with the most successful SA artiste at the moment being Casspper Nyovest. The man is breaking records; how I wish my own country would be more receptive when it comes to hip hop,” he lamented.
The artiste has roped in a marketing manager to ensure a smooth running career.
He has performed at Mais Jovem, a TV show in Mozambique and also staged gigs around SA as a curtain raiser.
He said he intended to assemble a band so that he can be able to attract meaningful gigs instead of performing with digital music.
His next album From the streets to corporate will carry five tracks and Capels says he has injected a lot of resources to enhance quality.
He said: “l have injected big money in this project to ensure quality, the plan is to drop singles from the album starting now and come June release the complete album, this we have done to create hype on the market by giving out teasers.”
“The album addresses a lot of issues…l promise an episode in entertainment that has never been witnessed before.”
