LOCAL music promoter Samuel “Boss Werras” Saungweme, of Werras Entertainment, has said his involvement in the arts sector is driven by passion and he does not expect rewards from artistes he works with.
Boss Werras’ remarks came amid allegations that some arts promoters and club owners were demanding kickbacks from artistes to deal with them for live gigs both locally and internationally.
“As Werras Entertainment, we are open for partnership with other artistes. We do it out of passion. We do not expect much or rewards from the artistes. We don’t get stressed like other promoters when they fail to get rewards from these artistes,” he said.
Boss Werras, who is also part of an organising team for dancehall singer Freeman’s Gango album launch scheduled for August 24 at Old Hararians in Harare, has described the Joina City hitmaker as an unceasing artiste.
“We have been working with Freeman from way back since the days of Sunshine Studios and I have seen Freeman grow to be a mature and consistent artiste. He is one of the dancehall artistes who you can say has grown to be a big man and stayed out of trouble,” he said.
“Freeman has been doing well for himself as he has invested a lot such that he is now a landlord, he owns a house.”
In his endeavours to contribute towards the arts, Boss Werras has also partnered the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe and several other musicians across genres for an initiative to educate people, mainly the youths, on the HIV and Aids epidemic through music.
“As Werras Entertainment, we are using music as edutainment to raise awareness and tackle social issues affecting ghetto youths such as drug abuse, abortion and child marriages,” he said.
“Art is a tool that has proved it can go a long way in mass education to attract the youths in and out of school who are hard to reach through the traditional public health systems.”
