Joe Nina has been around the music industry for two decades (1990–2010) during which he has triumphed as one of the foremost trend setters in the South African and African music landscapes.
In the last 20 years Joe Nina has built inroads into the music industry and secured good working relations with its most significant players. Some of the big legendary names in the South African music industry that Joe Nina has worked with include Steve Kekana, Babsy Mlangeni, Benny Palime, the late Stompie Mavi, the late Nana Coyote, Madala Kunene and many more.
Today, as founder and manager of the label Killer Joe Records, Joe Nina has also coupled his magic behind the microphone, together with his mastery of a range of other music instruments, with his mission to identify and advance young talented musicians from disadvantaged rural communities, sprawling townships and urban metros. He ranks it as one of his top passions to manage these various artists so that they may one day rise to be stars in their own right.
In the year 2000 Joe Nina was confined in a wheelchair for a while after a serious accident that almost cost him his life. He once remarked to a radio talk-show host whilst recuperating that, “The power of the wheelchair was its simple lesson that opened my eyes to both mine and other people's abilities'. It thus came as no surprise, but an expected shift towards disability awareness, that his next studio materials included sessions with artists with disabilities.
The first four musicians, (Kekana, Mlangeni, Mavi and Palime) identified in the list of past collaborations are/were established artists with disabilities. Killa Joe Records has in the past collaborated with these artists in raising awareness of the role that people with disabilities can play in the entertainment industry. This has also included passing knowledge of the rights (legal, economic and political) of people with disabilities in wider society.
His classic 'Sbali Awudeli' will always remind us of that first time when we all came together as a society and stood up to confront that bully who endlessly terrorised our children in our neighbourhoods. Joe Nina has always been more of an activist than just a mere artist – his music talks of his sincere belief in our collective power to influence the blowing winds of change. It is this social activism, coupled with his strong sense of disability awareness, that has inspired Joe Nina to record a new song (that sends a message against violence to women and children) with a virtually unknown act on the greater local music scene – The Green Berets. This group of men (a collective of nine tenors and baritones on crutches) under the stewardship of Mhlonipheni Gumede (Lead Vocalist and Vocal Arranger) met and formed this traditional S'cathamiya group after meeting as students at the Manson Lincoln Special School for students with disabilities at Umlazi Township, south of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, 10 years ago. It is just like Joe Nina to not only believes in the vocal prowess of these men but also to tap into the power of the symbol they fully represent – ability.
You have just to sit back, relax and listen to the Green Berets' haunting background vocals in the songs 'Awuyeke!' to imagine the colourful magic that hovered in the air inside the Killa Joe Records studios when they all (Nina and the Berets) assembled to attack the microphones – a masterpiece was painted with brilliant ease. 'Awuyeke!', a song commissioned by Valhalla Arts and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Arts and Culture as part of a wider programme aimed at identifying and nurturing music talents of people with disabilities, has been recorded to be the 'Theme Song for the (2010) 16 Days of Activism for no Violence against Women and Children'.
This is a wonderful and fitting introduction of The Green Berets and pioneers a new perspective in the area of disability integration and leadership. With this song we see people with disabilities emerging to give a voice to social issues that are beyond their immediate world of disability – violence and abuse touch us all. The MEC for Arts, Culture, Sport and Recreation, Mrs Weziwe Thusi will deliver keynote address the event.
Details are as follows:
Date: 19 November 2010
Time: 18h30
Venue: Moses Mabhida Stadium, (Presidential Business Suite)
Journalists wishing to attend the event must confirm with Ms Gugu Xaba on 033 264 3469 or xabag@kzndac.gov.za by 4pm today.
For more information contact:
Vukani Mbhele
Tel: 033 264 3400
Cell: 083 307 8964
