The award-winning South
African musician Jabulani Hadebe, known as
Sjava, on why he would choose money over pleasure.



1. What sets your music apart?



I always try to make it
different. 



I think most of the time when
people create music, they create it according to what is ‘hot’ and what is
‘popping’; they never really talk about things nobody talks about… 



So I just always try to sit
in my corner and stay true to it. 



2. What specific qualities do you need in order to last in the music industry? 



I think talent and
discipline, in terms of respecting what you do, and being dedicated towards it.
You also need luck and a lot of people don’t believe in that. 



They believe that you create
your luck, but I really believe in luck. 



3. In the future, do you see yourself as a more of businessman or a musician?  



Music is my first love and I
have been doing it professionally since my first album came out in 2016,
however, since then, I have seen and learned a lot of things. 



There have also been many
business opportunities and lessons on how to use money correctly.&nbsp; Branching into business is my new hobby right
now; it has become my obsession.&nbsp; 



4. Why do you think it took you longer to find success in the music industry?



Time. I really believe that
God’s timing is the best, and I thank God every day that it took forever
because I don’t think my music would be what it is today. 



I talk about my experiences,
and how I view things. I don’t think if I made it 10 years ago, I would have
been the same person, and I don’t regret it.



5. What is your philosophy in life?



What keeps me going is not
really caring about what people think of me. I also take things as they come. I
am not the kind of person who says, ‘I see myself, in five years, achieving
this and that&#8230;’



I just take it one step at a
time. Because what if I say, ‘in two years, I want to achieve this’, and it
doesn’t happen, only to find that it is going to happen in the third year? That
would mean I have already been mentally defeated. 



6. What did winning the BET Awards Viewer’s Choice for Best International Act mean to you?



It was crazy. It felt like
they were still rehearsing… I didn’t believe it was real at the time, but it is
what it is. I also didn’t think I would win, because of how expensive data is
in South Africa as compared to other countries on the continent from where
artists were also nominated. I really thought my people wouldn’t have the
resources to help me win. They surprised me and I won, that is why whenever I
see a group of people, I get out of the car, so I can take a picture with the
award, because they helped me get it. 



7. What is more important: money or pleasure? 



I would definitely choose
money. As black people, we have been made to believe that money is not
everything and it cannot buy you love and it can’t bring you happiness, and
that is not true. We need to teach people to like money, and that it is not a
curse. 



I come from poverty, so I
know what I’m talking about. Where I am now, and looking back to where I come
from, my life is better. I might not be as happy as I was then, but my life is
better. So I wouldn’t choose the happy broke life I had. I would rather choose
where I am now, so I can take better care of my family.

Tag: sjava

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

Business is my obsession says Sjava