“Our record label is all about Black excellence and diversity, promoting those languages deemed as small.”
These are the words of Gift Leonerd, the founder and boss of the newly launched Black Crown Music and Publishing. Leonerd hails from the villages of Pomfret in Vryburg, North West.
Speaking to MDN News, Gift—who also owns a security company called L.G. Protection Services, which employs more than 230 security personnel—shared his vision.
“After meeting a lot of artists who have been betrayed in the industry, I decided to come up with a strategy to help them and rescue their talent by offering them a safe space to vent through their music. We want to make sure that those artists who have been used and tossed around can see that they still have so much to offer the industry, if only given a second chance.
“Black Crown Music currently houses former The Queen actor Xolani Mayekiso, Amapiano producer Umthakathi Khush, Amapiano artist Ginger, and singer Nicholene Ngobene.
“Every time I tell the story of how I fell deeply in love with music, it goes back to the late Bulelwa ‘Zahara’ Mkutukana. I used to organise events and travel with her to various places around the country, and that is when I got to know a lot about the industry. Zahara used to tell me many stories, including her struggles in the music industry, which motivated me to start a record label to make sure that other people don’t go through the suffering that she went through.
“This is a Black-owned company aiming to give artists another chance in life and music after they have been cancelled,” he said. Leonerd said his vision is for Black Crown Music to become one of the most successful Black-owned record labels in Africa.
“People tend to sideline or cancel others for a few mistakes, and when someone else gives them another chance, that is where jealousy begins. We are just a small company right now, hoping to grow to the level of other proudly South African record labels,” said the owner of the Bramley-based company.