• She asked creatives to present their work for pay
The recordings of African twist legend John Nzenze will forever be an inspiration to his peers, Culture CS Amina Mohammed has said.
Speaking at his burial over the weekend, she said they should inspire young and upcoming musicians and artistes.
“John Nzenze will be remembered as the musician who pioneered African twist with among others, the single 'Angelike Twist',” she said.
“We will miss his great performances, but all those he motivated will keep his vision alive through each small action we take towards enabling a better music and cultural industry.”
The CS encouraged artistes to put in submissions in support of Nzenze’s legacy, which will stand as a resounding example to all the musicians who revered Nzenze as an inspiration.
Amina also called on all artistes, actors and musicians to submit their works for the “Work for Pay” Sh100 million stimulus package provided to cushion the creative industry during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The ministry has engaged the private sector, artists and the entire industry in discussions to review and enhance the effectiveness and commercial value of music production.
The Permanent Presidential Music Commission has been designed as a key resource in this endeavour.
The ministry aims to expand their studios to accommodate many more artistes in affordable high quality vocal, instrumental training and production.
So far, PPMC has mentored more than 10,000 musicians since August last year and will continue to do more to spread creation resources to all 47 counties, particularly those with a critical mass of legendary composers and vocalists.
To streamline operations within the industry, the ministry has waived the fees required by the Department of Culture to register cultural artists, including herbalists, with the ministry.
This is to ensure no one is locked out of this process on account of lack of financial resources.
"I, therefore, urge and encourage artistes and musicians to register with the Department of Culture to provide us a platform to communicate and work together to build the sector," Amina said.
The ministry will soon roll out a non-Internet based USSD code to allow more people from the counties to enroll as well as commence production road shows to evaluate and package entries from across the country.