Nota Disses Zimbabwean Artists, Says SA Music Doesn’t Need Africa
- South African music executive Nota sparked outrage after dismissing Zimbabwean music in a viral podcast clip
- Nota argued that SA's music industry is self-sufficient and that boycotts from African countries would have no financial impact
- Zimbabwean social media users pushed back, pointing out that Zim audiences have historically supported cancelled SA artists
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Source: Instagram
South African music executive Nota has ignited a heated online debate after a podcast clip surfaced showing him making blunt and dismissive remarks about the quality of Zimbabwean music. In the recording, made on the Music Pulse podcast, Nota was characteristically unfiltered. Responding to complaints about South African acts dominating bookings in Zimbabwe, he said:
"Zimbabwean artists are sh*t. No one's going to come.”
He argued that the global rise of South African music, particularly in South America, Asia, North America, and Europe, means the country's music industry has no reason to court favour with the rest of the continent.
Nota's case for SA's self-sufficiency
Central to his argument was a comparison of Netflix subscribers, which he used to illustrate South Africa's economic weight on the continent. He claimed there are over one million Netflix subscribers in South Africa, compared to fewer than 300,000 in Nigeria, suggesting that when global platforms count their African revenue, South Africa drives the majority of it.
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"They cannot afford to lose South Africa. So that's why we don't need to worry about people calling us Afrophobic."
He also addressed MTN, noting that while the telecoms giant has Nigerian origins, the South African and Nigerian operations function as separate business entities with local shareholders, much like how global franchise brands operate across different markets.
Watch the X video below:
Zimbabwe claps back
The clip, shared by @eargroundtv on X, drew a wave of responses from Zimbabwean users who questioned Nota's logic and took issue with his tone.
@Sokostina raised an interesting counterpoint about the irony of the situation, writing:
"But isusu manje, hatinzwe, tinoramba tichivadaidza, ivo vachitidadira kudaro. ko tikambodaidzwo maArtist from the nearby country, mati ivo havafadayiwo here? I swear Zambian and Mozambican music huchi"
@Mukoma_C offered a more measured rebuttal, pointing to how Zimbabwean fans have historically stepped in when South African artists fell out of favour at home. He said:
"The Boycott in Zim may not affect the SA music industry significantly, but it does affect the livelihoods of Artists individually. At some point, Scotts was 'cancelled' in SA, but he was booked in Zim. At some point, Makhadzi was 'broke' in SA but was fully booked in Zim."
Nota dissed A-Reece’s performance
Moral Authority took to X to blast A-Reece's 'Scorpion Kings' performance, calling it career suicide.
The post compared A-Reece unfavourably to Phori, who Moral Authority praised for 'kissing the ring'.
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Source: Briefly News
