A musician from Winnipeg has raised more than $1,000 for up-and-coming artists in two African countries, and says it’s just the beginning of what he sees as a cross-cultural exchange.
Sam Mdwara Decter, who performs and records jazz-inspired hip-hop under the Dog Dad Posse moniker, is currently living on Vancouver Island, but grew up and began playing music in Manitoba. He says his connection with musicians in South Africa and Botswana came out of researching his own family roots.
“I’m South African — I have family there,” Decter said. “It’s on my bucket list. I want to go there next year. I’ve never been.
“I’ve been researching it for a while, and I think it’s because people don’t have an idea of what’s going on there — all these flavours of hip-hop coming from the motherland — that’s why I want to do it, so my label will be doing something unique.
“It’s important to the guys who are making it. It’s important to me, because that’s my family, the musical lineage that I’m literally a part of … the musical culture that I want to be a part of.”
Decter’s record label, West Hawk Tapes — a nod to Manitoba’s Whiteshell region — is intended to act as a showcase for musicians from around the world, and a successful crowdfunding campaign brings him one step closer to that goal.
A trio of artists from Welkom, South Africa, are receiving half of the funds, to be used for three days of recording at a professional studio. The other half is going to rapper SZN from Francistown, Botswana, who needs a proper microphone for his DIY home studio.
Decter said he launched the campaign on his birthday after seeing others on social media using birthday celebrations to support charities and other initiatives.
“We raised ($1,000), which was my ask. It was my birthday last week, so I was hitting up the fam, hitting up people who saw it was my birthday on Facebook to do a fundraiser. People do it all the time. It’s a great idea.
“We got a lot of people’s generosity directed in the right direction, and we got to the basic goal.
“The fundraiser’s open for the next three months…. Any additional funds we raise are going to spill over into physical tapes — having cassette tapes to put out a split EP for the South African guys.”
Although Decter has lived in a number of cities across Canada, including Toronto and Victoria, his Winnipeg roots have had a direct impact on his pursuit of this kind of DIY community art.
“Winnipeg is unique, where you have this hometown, small-town (feeling) — you recognize people on the bus, your uncle went to high school with the guy who opened that shop. There’s a connection feeling there,” he said.
“But Winnipeg’s just big enough, we’ve got a real art galley, the big ballet, you know? Winnipeg’s in that sweet spot where we have that community sense … and Winnipeg’s the capital of Manitoba and a big link in the (Canadian) music scene.”
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