Neo Makate: The Man Who Made Amapiano Commercial | Unfiltered Industry Truths

Описание: South African artists complain about record labels but few ever sit down with the people who build these systems. On this episode of The In’s Podcast, we sit with Neo Makate, one of the key executives behind some of the country’s biggest success stories.

Neo say's he wanted to be The Mandela of music, a revolutionary who came into the industry to change things.

What Neo Says About Artists & Contracts

One of Neo’s biggest frustrations is simple:
Artists sign contracts they don’t read and then complain.
“I give you the contract. You take it home. You sign.
No one is forcing you.”

When people argue that hunger and desperation push young artists to agree to unfair terms, Neo responds:

“I know poverty I come from it.
If the issue is the split, dispute it.
Don’t say hunger made you sign.”

Neo opens up about his upbringing, growing up in a home of 13 people, where sometimes only 10 plates of food were served.

How He Entered the Industry

Neo never planned to work in music.
Everything changed when he met Pro Kid, one of SA’s greatest hip-hop artists.
He started by selling CDs, then became part of TS Records, where he learned the art of radio plugging, getting songs playlisted on radio during a time when that alone could make or break a career.

He explains how artists must present themselves if they want radio compilers to take them seriously.

The Amapiano Era

Neo says he played a major role in taking Amapiano from the streets to the mainstream.
Back then:

Radios didn’t want to playlist the genre
Big distributors didn’t believe in it
Labels didn’t understand the sound

Neo pushed anyway and today Amapiano runs the charts worldwide.

He continues shaping the sound today with the rise of 3-step, a genre currently dominating the country.

Artists Neo Has Worked With

Neo has helped build and position some of the biggest names in SA music, including:
Daliwonga
Nkosazana Daughter
Buhle
Sir Trill
And many more…

He is now part of Jazzworx and Thukuthela, continuing his mission to develop artists like a father figure:

“When I work with an artist, it’s like I am a father. More than anything, I love change. New things motivate me.”

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW
This episode is deep.
It’s emotional.
It’s educational.
And it reveals things artists rarely hear from the other side.

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