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c u l t u r e

I went back home, I realized that there were no platforms for
local artists, so, I asked my business partner what he thought
about the idea of an open mic. We brainstormed over it for
about 6 months. How could we go about it? What to do? We
realized that there was a void there, and maybe, if we filled
that void, we might have something going on. So, we started
in a small venue, maximum of 200 persons. We started
slowly, growing from there. We also realized that the venue
visualizes, and we decided to decentralize it and take it out to
the streets in different neighbourhoods. We did just that, and
the rest is history. That was the magic potion.

When we started, we were practically the only ones doing
local music on the radio. Today there are more than 20 radio
stations, and on every radio station you tune into you hear
local Gambian music. Nightly there are events with local
performances. You go to any club now, and you will hear
Gambian music being played. Not so long ago, we were
practically the only ones playing Gambian music in the clubs,
in the radio.
In 2008, we started our TV show. There were sceptics, but we committed guys are. You can encourage these people so they
kept to strict standards. We did not just play something because can get to the big platform.
it was local music. It had to be of good quality. We had access to
studios, sound systems, and we just made sure to pick the best, Q: From what I understand, you started out long before
and then the people eventually put their trust in us. these U.S. TV shows got talent etc.
We had the idea and we went to the grassroots. Unfortunately,
Q: So, it grew from the grassroots to become something very our society is not as well developed as those countries, so we
big. How do you feel today? did not have a lot of the same opportunities. But we made use
It is like a dream come true. It actually means starting from of what we had on the ground, and like I just said, it was grass
something non-existent to growing to the biggest musical roots, and it worked! Just get to the people, to the grass roots.
platform in your country, something written about now in the The grassroots have always worked in any form of campaign
history books regarding the country’s culture. So, definitely it that you do.
feels great, feeling like you have achieved something worthy. The open mic festival is also called the people’s event because
of the way people gravitated to this event. They saw these
Q: Are you planning to venture into other forms of art or are artists from their neighbourhood, some of them are their
you concentrating only on music? friends, their brothers and sisters. You are in school with
Well, mostly the music business, but other parts of the music some of these guys, and now these guys are among the big
business. We do other things to complement that, such as stars in Gambia so that’s why people called it the people’s
video production, and looking to radio and TV recording, event. If you are selected, there’s the pride you feel if you are
hopefully getting our own radio and TV channel so this will selected. If you are not selected, you have to work harder.
complement what we are already doing. Yeah, it’s worth it.
We do monthly shows, talent scouting, creating a platform for
the upcoming artists, radio and sound system, and we have all Q: It is very encouraging to listen to you, and I’m happy
platforms that artists need to get through to get to the big stage. to hear how you have managed to engage all these people.
Once you’ve passed all these little channels, you definitely have What is the next thing you would like to achieve?
grown and matured as an artist to get to the big stage. When We are particularly looking at the Senegalese market. Senegal
you get to the big stage, you start to become a national name is our closest neighbour, but it is not an easy market to
and to earn a living through that. When you become a good penetrate because they have a way more established music
enough artist, you can roll on your own. We did not sign a industry than we do. Their population is 13 times bigger than
contract with any of them, we just provided a platform so that ours and their spending power is higher than in Gambia. I
any of them could randomly take advantage of it. think they have managed to penetrate the world. We also
going international with the Gambian diaspora in Europe and
It is open to anyone. The flagship event is called the Open Mic the US. Gambia has a very small population so the diaspora
Festival. It started out in different neighbourhoods. We went outside the country is not very big either, but that is still a
there and said, “If you think you are talented enough, give it a channel that we can explore further.
try even though it does not mean that you will necessarily get
out there.” So, that’s the reason why we had all these different Leaving Abdou Karim “Waagan” Fae, we only hope that this
platforms, all of these things. And you start to see who the success story can inspire others.

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