South Africa-based Dancehall chanter, Buffalo Souljah born Thabani Ndlovu says artists making music in vernacular languages have made a choice to isolate themselves from the international market.
The 38-year-old crooner made the remarks in a recent Facebook post where he reiterated that language barrier is a strong force that affects a genre or artists’ visibility on the international arena.
“I Don’t sing for Zimbabwe only, doing strictly venac songs is a choice of isolating yourself from the world market which is not a bad thing if you are ok with just being a local star.
“Let’s not lie to ourselves and say music has no language barrier, please show me a venac song from Africa that does not have English lines that’s as Big as for example Davido #Ifwhich was sang in English and pidgin English,” he said.
He said, unlike other artists who are satisfied with local conquest, his vision is to conquer the international market.
“In the hood we had people who sold tomatoes from their houses then you have those who sold tomatoes at the market. I chose the market that’s how you put the country on the map. If I feel like this beat is a local vibe I’ll go local if I feel like this on some international shit I go international not because by market but by inspiration,” said Buffalo Souljah.
