Members of the Kota and Chill Podcast are driven by the urge to make it in the entertainment industry and give a platform to aspiring artists to have a voice.
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The Zone 3 youngsters, Neo Bopape, Kutlwano Moseneke Phosa, Letlhogonolo Ramoshwane, Sefako Macheru, Katlego Mula and Mzoexolo Paul Thafeni started their podcast on August 28.
The podcast which is recorded on Fridays and Sundays at the Fud Hurb Restaurant, gives listeners a chance to chill and indulge in their kota’s as they listen to the conversation of the day.
According to the group, the establishment of the podcast was result of an escape from their harsh backgrounds, unemployment and wanting keep themselves occupied.
“We saw a gap in Soweto with the podcast since we do not have such platforms especially for aspiring artist to express themselves. That’s how the idea came about, ” Katlego Mula said.
They added that their goal is to create a safe place for aspiring artists to voice the challenges they encounter in the industry, announce their achievements and market their work.
“Our podcast focus on every artist from South Africa who would like share their stories, especially those from Soweto because we have noted that there is a lot of talent in the area and we want to motivate the aspiring ones to push harder,” Ramoshwane said.
The group has dropped seven episodes on their podcast thus far, which is available on their YouTube page and are calling on the community to be part of this journey by subscribing, liking and commenting on their content.
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“Some of the challenges we encounter is that residents do not have a clear understanding of what a podcast is but this why we are here, to educate them and continue producing content, ” Macheru said.
Regardless of the challenges they face of equipment and having to work around the tight schedules of load shedding, their mission is to never give up and thrive against all odds.
“We have faced a lot of challenges since we started but giving up is never an option, we have opted to selling t-shirts with the Kota and Chill podcast brand as another way to helping our podcast grow, ” Thafeni said.
The team is grateful for the support they have received from various local sponsors and are calling on residents to offer them assistance by donating to help the podcast grow.
“We would be grateful for any form of donations and assist and call on artists to come forth and talk about the challenges they encounter in the industry, it can be that of exploitation from record labels, we are here to offer a listening ear,” Bopape said.
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They motivate young people with the same dream and aspiration to start now and never give up on their dreams.
“To youngsters out there with the same dream, we encourage them to start now; they should not be scared to take the first step and most importantly they should not depend on anyone but be strong individually so that they thrive as a group because this industry is not for the faint hearted, ” Phosa said.
For more information visit their YouTube channel on PSE Channel
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