In the first edition of the second season, we highlight the remarkable presence of Jushua, one of the biggest up-and-coming artists in Mozambican music. With a career that includes four appearances and victories on national reality shows, Jushua reveals his passion for music since his adolescence, when he was a member of his church choir.
His professional journey began in 2012, when he won the "Casa dos Sonhos" (Dream House). He subsequently appeared on three more renowned reality shows, including "Elite-Voice," "Desafio Total," and "Vozes que Encantam," the latter in 2021. In a revealing interview with Apathany, Jushua shares that these experiences were truly formative, covering aspects such as technical singing, stage performance, vocal preparation, and audience interaction.
When discussing the current music landscape and the role of new generation artists, Jushua doesn't hesitate to point out challenges and offer valuable perspectives. He emphasizes the need for decentralization of rhythms, noting that although territorial decentralization has occurred, there is a predominance of replicators over creatives. "The market needs decentralization of rhythms. Fortunately, we've overcome territorial decentralization. We have many artists from the North and Center regions achieving success in the country, but the problem lies in the same rhythms: there's little room for creatives and plenty for replicators," said Jushua.
The young man also addresses the scarcity of opportunities for many artists, highlighting an imbalance between supply and demand. He criticizes the lack of an active business community capable of investing in emerging talent, contrasting this with countries where businesspeople understand the artistic development process and don't view investing in promising young artists as a waste.
“"In countries with an active business community for intelligent partnerships with cultural agents (musicians), business people understand the process of polishing an artist, that is, they do not feel they are losing out by investing in an anonymous young person who only has talent and 'life', they simply have the patience to develop the artist, but not here, business people are exploitative, they only appear when you finally manage to get out of the hole" says Jushua.
The young artist praises the "Voices of the Pearl of the Indian Ocean" initiative as a project that challenges the current system, providing a platform for emerging talent. He expresses optimism that this approach will result in the emergence of talented young people who would otherwise remain anonymous. "I congratulate this project, which doesn't compromise the system. I believe that many talented young people will emerge from obscurity through this initiative, and we will all grow," he said.
Concluding his reflection, Jushua highlights the challenges faced by new artists as a kind of sifting process, believing that overcoming obstacles will contribute to the quality of the music scene. "Despite all the challenges newcomers face in emerging from anonymity, I think it's partly a good sifting process; the more difficult the test, the more quality classifications we'll have," he concluded.
With his debut scheduled for the 25th of this month on “Vozes da Pérola do Índico”, Jushua promises to add a distinctive note to the rich tapestry of Mozambican music.
