By SINDA MATIKO

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To many people, “behind every successful man, there stands a woman” is a grating, even lazy, and unimaginative cliche.

Not so to Afrobeats megastar Burna Boy, or “the African Giant” as he is popularly known.

The Grammy Award-winning Nigerian, who now commands a performance fee of not less than $500,000 for international shows, is managed by his mother, Bose Ogulu, affectionately known as Mama Burna by fans.

Mama Burna, who could easily rival Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner for the momager title, has overseen the transformation of her son’s music career.

She learned the ropes of the trade from her father who managed the late Fela Kuti, regarded as the principal innovator of Afrobeats.

Mama Burna leads a heavy list of many women managing artistes across the continent.

Down in South Africa, the top and highest-paid Amapiano artistes are managed by women. Leading the list are DJ Maphorisa and Focalistic.

Read: How Burna Boy set the world alight

DJ Maphorisa ranks as the top-streamed Amapiano artiste in the past decade in the listicle data by Spotify, alongside Kabza De Small and Young Stunna – all of whom are managed by Thulani Keupilwe also known as Thuli or simply Keupzz on her socials.

On the top 10 list is also found Focalistic. The eloquent, social and political science graduate, is also managed by a woman, Reba Shai.

On a chilly night in Soweto, Johannesburg, I meet the two trailblazing managers, Thuli and Reba.

“I am almost certain that at least 50 percent of artistes' managers are women,” Thuli said.

“It’s a matter of time before women take over the industry. From being road managers to being technical support at shows to being managers, we have come a long way. But it is not just about us being managers but also running the game, in the aspects of being involved in the music business and running the labels – a fete that for so long has been a reserve of men,” Reba chimes in.

One thing you couldn’t help but notice was how often Thuli and Reba complimented each other’s work.

“I don’t think she realises but I want to give her artiste props. For me, 2021 was the gamechanger for Amapiano internationally when Foca (Focalistic) dropped the song Ke–Star featuring Davido. In my mind, I feel that was the first song that impacted Amapiano and took us across the world. That collaboration shook the ground and Foca was quite outside (South Africa) and I realised if he is not in SA, then the rest of us are about to follow, and indeed it opened the door for us,” says Thuli, who has been in artiste and events management since her days as an intern at Dreamteam South Africa, a Hip Hop group.

Beginnings

In 2017, Thuli started Lawk Communications, a bookings and artist management agency.

Since then, she has grown into one of South Africa’s leading cultural voices with an impressive roster of A-lister artistes that also counts Daliwonga, Mas Musiq, and Sha Sha.

Thuli’s journey is almost similar to that of Reba Shai. Reb began her career in entertainment as an intern at an online publication LiveMag.

“I was a community manager in charge of social accounts. I would do Twitterviews with musicians to grow the publication’s Twitter numbers and presence,” she tells me.

Twitterview, an interview conducted via tweet chats, is the precursor to Twitter Spaces.

Read: Nneka cements her space with Rwandan audience

Reba then cast her net wider and began engaging artiste managers on Twitterview.

“I soon got interested in working in the music industry. I approached several labels for a chance to be part of their team but was turned down by all except only two. I joined Cap City Records, where I became a junior label and brand manager under the tutelage of my mentor Tshepiso Poho,” she tells me.

Manager’s job

As a brand manager, Reba’s job was to oversee all artiste campaigns ranging from collaborations to partnerships with brands.

“My job was to manage relationships between brands and artists and ensure they both benefit from each other. I pitched collaborations and partnerships to brands. As a manager, it's crucial I participate in and lead negotiation for deals,” Shai, who is also a lead marketing and operation strategist for the independent music label 18 Area, adds.

It's on these music corridors where Reba met Focalistic, a young, and fresh graduate from the University of Pretoria.

Focalistic was attempting a career in football when he won the 2016 “Artist on Rise” competition. Reba approached him and asked to manage him as an artiste and Focalistic couldn’t resist her detailed music resume.

In early 2020, she helped him set up his record label, 18 Area Holdings, where she calls the shots.

“As a label manager, I look after the business affairs which involve music publishing, royalties, and the type of deals needed to distribute music,” she explains.

Reba also oversees the overall backend of music distribution and how it penetrates different geographical markets.

As Focalistic manager, her role also involves looking for and booking him for shows, as well as negotiating performance deals.

Read: Why Kenyan music is drowned out by Afrobeat

“At the moment, my whole focus is on Focalistic because we want to be sure of this product first before we can think of onboarding others. Starting with a new artiste is always super expensive and so taxing. Artiste development is also super expensive. This is why I wouldn’t take a new artiste now; it's too much work,” Shai adds.

On her part, Thuli does not seek artistes, they come to her instead.

“How my business is structured is that I don’t scout for talent. Kabz De Small and DJ Maphorisa are the A & R guys (artists and repertoire). They are the ears when it comes to scouting. I am just the business."

While Thuli and Shai seem to be in charge, challenges never lack.

Industry challenges

With success, comes money. The two managers admit that some artistes become a handful with the arrival of money.

For Thuli, conversations on money are probably the toughest.

“I have an array of artistes and it is probably easier having those conversations with the more established artistes like DJ Maphorisa. That is because they already learned from past mistakes and are more careful than young artists, who are just starting and are hungry for success,” Thuli notes.

Reba blames it all on financial illiteracy.

“Our primary job as managers is to get them money and not micro-manage them on how to utilise their money. Of course, you can advise or offer them education but at the end of the day, they are the ones who decide how to spend. This is why I think it’s important to have financial education taught to artistes by partners such as distributors and digital service providers platforms because what’s the point of an artiste doing well then later going broke,” she says.

“I think I am one of the few lucky managers when it comes to artiste money problems. Focalistic is quite smart. He understands that money is a means to an end, chasing it is normal and part of success. We started before the money, pushed the agenda and money came later. When we met him, he was still living at his parent's home, and he wasn’t making any money. Everything we have made we began together from scratch he has been part of that process. Because of that, it was easy for him to see and understand how to properly manage the money we have made, essentially taking it and investing it back into building the brand,” Reba says.

To ensure proper management and usage of the revenues generated, Reba says, they set up structures.

“We hired a lawyer who goes through and advises on contractual deals. We have a financial manager and accountant to keep our books in check. This has helped the management of finances,” she added.

The issue of being a woman in a male-dominated field always crops up.

“Being a woman in such an industry you have to keep proving yourself. You have to be strong and confident. Men often overlook or misunderstand women’s role in the industry, And I always say as tough as it is. it's okay to cry during tough moments. Let the steam off but keep going, we are here for a reason and by merit, our job is to try and make the lives of our creatives better,” Thuli advises.

Another occupation hazard as managers is being blamed when the artiste fails.

“Artistes are also humans and sometimes operate spontaneously. A manager’s job is to respond to the effects of the decisions that don’t align with the brand,” notes Reba.