Artists always rise and some fall along the way, but some of these misfortunes can be avoided because they can be clearly seen from afar as long as one does not choose to ignore the signs. Throughout history worldwide, there is no big-name artist who wakes up one day, and all the fame is gone in a flash, it is a gradual process that happens at a pace that is so smooth that it is very difficult to take note of.

As the name grows most artists start neglecting profitable advice due to pride in their accomplishments, paying more attention to praise than correction, so as the downward trend begins it is a very difficult task to convince them because as they walk the streets fans will be mobbing them as usual, asking for selfies and autographs, it is a very daunting task to convince an artist in the midst of an adoring hysterical crowd that his fame and brand is going down. But little do they know that when the graph starts pointing downwards it’s a process that cannot be stopped by screaming admirers and autograph seekers. Being at the top can blind an artist, but the top is also a very slippery place, a very tiny thing can cause a downfall, it takes so many years and a lot of effort to reach the top, but bringing the name down usually takes very little effort.

From my book Poor and famous,(2018)chapter 13 this is an extract that talks about key issues that cause such downfalls amongst artists in Zimbabwe.

FIXING WHAT IS NOT BROKEN:

A number of times in Zimbabwe we have this problem I would like to call “Fixing what is not broken”. I have watched this happening in bands a number of times. This is when everything is flowing greatly for the band, the band combination and crowds are coming to the shows, then the bandleader announces that he wants to try “something new”. A new sound and a new way of running things dissolved the band and sometimes the management too, but his fans fail to adapt to the new changes. The end result is, the artiste loses his following. The question arises as to why the band leader just decided to fix a formula that was working, if it is not broken why fix it? The problem with fixing something that is not broken is that the fixing will end up breaking up what you were trying to fix. Building a fan base is something that takes a very long time but destroying it can take a few hours, so it is not wise to be too experimental.

ADVISORS:
Throughout my career, there is one area that I see causing a lot of splits in bands and causing artists to fall from grace. That is the area of advice and decisions when they get to the top. Most artists, once they make it change who they hang out with and start getting advice from the wrong people when the right people are still there and willing to help. Advice is a very critical aspect of every institution. That is why governments even appoint people as advisors. Like everybody else, artists also need someone to give them advice.
If an artist is operating under a record label he will always get advice from the label. They usually have the creative control so they can even reject some of his music if they feel it is not good enough, but the danger comes when an artist is independent as it is with the vast majority of Zimbabwean artists currently. As a result, artists are left to make critical decisions on their own. Of course, a manager is also supposed to be the main advisor but in many cases, managers in Zimbabwe are just treated as errand boys who are told what to do, how to do it, who to go see, and what to say. So, in most cases, an artiste ends up relying on himself and his praise singers who are just there to stroke his ego. The problem with praise singers is that they admire you so much that they do not see any wrong that you do. Do you think that a fan who faints when he sees you will ever tell you that your music is taking a wrong turn? She will scream hysterically just by seeing you so anything you do is heavenly. It is important, therefore, for an artist to have level-headed and mature people around him who understand the industry and are not star-struck with him. They will offer sound advice.

There are two types of praise singers. The first one is the diehard fan. Every popular artiste has two types of fans, the diehard fans who worship him and see no wrong, and the fun seekers who pursue fun and just follow the current “man of the moment” artiste. Once you are removed from the top they disappear, never to be seen again. Diehard fans are dangerous when it comes to offering advice. No matter how bad a decision you make, they will tell you it is a great decision. They will tell you your latest album is the best album you have ever recorded. Have you ever wondered what keeps artists strong, confident, and big-headed in the midst of a very bad career suicide decision? Or what makes them feel good and confident after releasing trash? The answer lies in diehard fans. They are the ones who come up with such statements like “As long as you are there, the band is there” and “keep playing that new sound they are complaining about, they will get used to it.” By the time the artiste realizes the advice is bad, his name would have gone down and it would be impossible to recover. Although most diehard fans will stick with you, the problem is they are in the minority of your overall crowd. I can say your diehard fans constitute just a quarter of your overall crowd. Three-quarters are just fun seekers who have no problems with leaving you or heckling you with beer cans the moment they think you are messing up on stage.

The second type of praise singer that misleads the artiste is close people who benefit financially directly from the artiste. In fear of disappointing you, they will praise everything that you do and negatively encourage you when everybody is criticizing you, not all criticism is bad, no matter how painful some criticism is, some of it is very constructive.
One thing artists have to realize is that being at the top is not permanent, the top is a very slippery spot, and anybody who is there needs to be very careful. One needs to take note of the ingredients that made them go on that position and keep using the same ingredients. If you got to the top because of a certain genre of music, or because of a certain way of doing things, or because of your band’s contributions, changing it has a danger of making you slip and fall. Many artists end up getting too experimental once they reach the top and end up abandoning or neglecting what or who made them rise. Rebecca Malope is still using the same producer Sizwe Zako since 1986 because she noticed that their combination was the winning formula, so there is no need to try a new sound when this one is still working.
In the early stages of going down it is difficult to tell, remember when someone gets very big he gets isolated from the ordinary people. As a result, getting word from the street becomes difficult, but once an artiste’s graph points downwards, they must get worried and ask reliable people what the reason could be and how it can be rectified. A big artiste will not fall from grace instantly in a single week or even in a month, the fall is very gradual and very difficult to notice at first to the extent that he will realize it when it is too late. During the fall he will also be blinded and made strong by the praise singers so he will not notice a thing. If an artiste attracts 5000 people at a venue every time he plays there it will be difficult or impossible for him to notice it when the crowd number goes down to 4700, but what this means is that the graph has pointed downwards and it must be a cause for concern, next time the number will be 4000, then 3500 until you fail to afford to hire the venue and move to smaller venues.

SPOUSAL INTERFERENCE

Another contributory factor in the fall from grace of other artists or band splits is the sudden interference of band leaders’ spouses when success comes. I know a number of bands that split just as soon as the band leader’s spouse started interfering with how band matters were being handled. Some of the specific issues had to do with remunerations and public relations. One band leader’s wife complained that the band was being overpaid considering that they were uneducated, the remunerations were lowered, it affected the morale in the band, the next album released after the move was a flop because band members boycotted by not playing or contributing ideas to their full potential. Before the next album was recorded the band split and the artist’s name started going down. I think the reason why such bands like U2 and the Rolling stones remain big to this day is they maintained their personnel from the day they started up to now.

Therefore although it is a natural phenomenon that whatever goes up will go down someday, at times it is something that can be avoided if one remains level-headed.

By Clive “Mono’ Mukundu,

Guitarist and music producer at Monolio studios, Zimbabwe.

info@monomukundu.com

Mobile: +263772303736.