Don Dada to host his hip-hop vs reggae music live in Tembisa
Don Dada chose Tembisa for the filming of his JAH IS GOOD music video
Hip-hop artist Menelik Nesta Gibbons aka Don Dada continuously pushes boundaries, changing the norm, quickly moving beyond static thinking by reinventing the game.
Dada chose Tembisa for the filming of his Jah is Good music video at Bakwena Shesanyma in Tembisa where he involved the community on November 17.
Dada decided to come and host his hip-hop versus reggae/dancehall live at the same area on November 30.
He is fast becoming an industry thought leader by breaking tradition and creating ground-breaking possibilities for growth for himself and others in the music business.
Dada in the entertainment industry has achieved a great deal as a hip-hop artist and social influencer in South Africa since he made his debut on the 2016 Mandela Day Concert stage.
His Radio segment HipHop4Life #DADAFriday on the 1912OnlineRadio recently celebrated its first anniversary.
The Facebook LIVE broadcast has become so popular, it currently enjoys a weekly average of 30 000 views and attracted the attention of Canada, New York and Jamaica.
From watching HipHop4Life #DADAFriday LIVE on Facebook, Dada received and accepted an interview on a Montreal Canada radio – Wadadli Vybz that broadcasts in New York. Jamaica was listening in and that lead to an invite and inclusion of Dada and his artist Somalia Mejane aka Seed_Under on a very successful 3 city Kenya concert tour with legendary award-winning Jamaican artist Everton Blender and the Reggae PowerHouse Band.
Looking to engage with fresh perspectives Dada looked for ways to stretch beyond his inbuilt set of experiences, orthodoxies, historical practices, ‘blind spots’, technology capabilities, and business boundaries.
He understood that looking at the world differently is the only way to dramatically increase his ability to identify truly new opportunities to drive breakthrough growth and that gave birth to his current project that he named RuFF CuTT Studio TV available on the Tuluntulu App.
Dada is quick to mention how thankful he is that he has a dedicated hardworking team that consists of his parents Layla and Moe Gibbons, his artist Seed_Under and friend Temohelo Hlatshwayo aka Tempo Rippah coupled with opportunities provided by the likes of Sipho Zak Masingo, Shaun Maidment, MC Cool-I (Canada) and Leeroy Scarlet (Jamacia)
His highest accolades:
1. His original Viva Mandela song reaching multi-platinum within a short four months of release.
2. Only artist with three official Mandela tracks:
a. [Original] Viva Mandela track
b. Viva Mandela remix featuring Mahotella Queens and
c. Long Live Mama Winnie Mandela – the tribute he wrote and performed live on the Black Doek memorial stage in Newtown.
3. First African artist to sign a deal with to TuFF Gong International https://tuffgong.com/about/
4. Only artist with own Radio and TV show.
The multi-platinum sales is an achievement that must not be undermined as there is speculation that it is a possible ‘industry first’ as it is unheard of for an indie artist to achieve multi-platinum within four months of releasing a track.
Breathing life through music
Over the years Dada has added quite a list of accolades to his professional portfolio, notable among these are:
After decades of unofficial songs and working on others productions, in April 2016 Dada decided to step into his next phase and released his first registered singles Want That and Pheshe Phaya which he performed on the Mandala Day Tribute Concert. From the Mandela Concert Dada went straight into his studio and completed the full Avant Garde album in less than three days (the album is available on digital platforms worldwide).
In 2017 he pushed the boundaries further and promoted his album in Zimbabwe. It was during this tour that he received an offer through Content Connect Africa to do the 2017 Mandela song. This fuelled the birth of his Viva Mandela song supported by CCA, MTN SA and has relevant Nelson Mandela Foundation permissions.
Dada feels that he was again destined to link with the 1912Radio where he spent the 2017 Mandela Day on air chatting about his track and together with the 1912Radio spending the 60 minutes cleaning the streets and serving snacks to the public, forming a strong bond and decision to join the 1912Radio starting his own weekly hip-hop segment called HipHop4Life #DadaFriday in September 2017.
By the second week of the show in his true Dada #GameChanger style, Dada convinced the 1912Radio to transform RuFF CuTT Studio to include broadcasting and now claims the title ‘First artist with active in-house broadcasting capability’. You should catch his HipHop4Life #DadaFriday from 6pm to 8pm. This show currently boosts an average of 30 000 views per session.
