She is always giving fellow artists and business owners advice on how to monetise their gifts. Platinum-selling musician and businesswoman Dudu “Lady Du” Ngwenya launched her highly anticipated book, titled ‘Fame or Business’ at Exclusive Books in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, yesterday.
IMPARTING KNOWLEDGE
With over 10 years of business knowledge and a lifetime of music industry insight, she won her first DJing competition at 9 years old. Her father is veteran R&B DJ Choc, and her uncle is DJ Zan D, meaning music runs in her blood. Sprinkle that with some experiences of exploitation and contractual disputes, she feels qualified to share her wisdom. “The book is basically about the industry, with all the experience I’ve had and people complaining about royalties, masters, and them crying about how exploitation is an issue,” Lady Du said. “We started researching to help people understand publishing, how labels work, and how the music industry ecosystem works. What being independent means,” she said. “People are signing deals they don’t know about, getting into contracts they don’t understand, and signing life sentences. So, it’s educational and non-fiction, and we have done extensive research on it," Lady Du told ZiMoja.
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BORN INTO FAME
Born and raised in Vosloorus, Gauteng, Lady Du has had a few financial and business challenges of her own. After years of hard work, when her big break was not coming, she almost gave up. She has experience in the logistics industry. She travelled to over 108 countries as a somatologist and skin therapist on a cruise ship, which opened her eyes to different cultures and experiences. “It took me more than 20 years to get my breakthrough in the music industry,” she said. She is now a successful musician and hair salon owner who also owns property and cars. “This was me also using my own mistakes and the mistakes of those around me and putting them in a book. It’s a good read and shows people how easy the music industry can be if one learns a few things,” she added. “I don’t want people to go through what I went through. I am independent and pay for everything myself. To get here, it was very difficult. I had more tears than congratulations. So, I want people to learn from my mistakes in this book," she said.
