Kimberly Pearl Moyo is a South African talent manager, A&R, film producer, creative director. In this interview, she talks about her career and more.
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How do you balance between being a Music Business Executive, Video Producer and Creative Director?
I’ve figured out how to balance it by creating a structure that keeps me disciplined. The calendar is my bestfriend. Music business is 24/7, I work around the clock. So without discipline, I’d have to change my career path.

Why did you venture into Video production? Was it a dream job?
I’ve always been a creative. Always watched movies and imagined how the story would’ve turned out if I was part of the writing team, always listened to music and imagined how the music video would look like. Its crazy how I actually wanted to be an actress. After graduating from university I realised that instead of being in front of the camera, I wanted to be behind it.

Tell us about yourself.
My name is Kimberly Pearl Moyo, I’m a South African talent manager, A&R, film producer, creative director and a super mum to the most beautiful girl in the world. My life revolves around music and the visual arts. I’m passionate about bringing artists from around Africa together to create music and for cultural exchange purposes.

How does it feel shooting the first viral Amapiano video in history? How did it happen? Share with us the story and experience.
It feels amazing, definitely honoured to have been a part of it. It was actually the first music video I’d ever worked on. ‘Love You Tonight ‘by MFR Souls ft DJ Maphorisa, Kabza De Small & Shasha. It gave us our first ‘Best Music Video ‘nomination at the SAMAs (South African Music Video Awards). This was shortly after my business partner, Onkabetse Hlongwane and I had agreed to start working together. He’s an amazing director, editor and cinematographer amongst other things. I’m a writer, producer and creative director so our partnership made sense. He called me 1 day and told me that Sony wanted to shoot, we were very excited. The shoot was a success and that video really put us on the map.
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How will you describe the South African music scene? What makes it different from others?
It’s very competitive. The pie is big and everyone wants a piece of it so every day there’s new artists emerging, keeping everyone involved on their toes.

Amapiano has taken the African Music Industry to another level. Do you think it is here to stay or it has a time span?
Amapiano is here to stay. In SA we say ‘Amapiano is a lifestyle’ it’s not just about the music, it’s a way of life, it’s culture. These things don’t change, they only evolve, same as the genre. It will never die because there’s going to be sub genres of it as the sound grows. Genres evolve. The genre is originally South African but we have no control over where it goes and because of that, it has taken over the world. The ‘mother genre ‘is Kwaito, there’s Kwaito elements in all genres from South Africa so Amapiano will exist for generations to come.

What are the things that you will love to see happen in the South African Entertainment industry?
I’d love to see upcoming artists educating themselves about basic music business concepts and understanding terminologies like royalties, split sheets, sync deals etc; for artists to collaborate amongst themselves, the OGs and youngsters. I would love to see more women getting into managerial positions within the music industry.

How do you scout for talent? What are the things you look for?
SoundCloud is my best friend, referrals from colleagues, have questionnaires on social media asking people to share with me artists to look out for. Watch music video channels etc, so many ways to discover new talent. I don’t always look for much; talent is the only thing that matters. Talent first, everything else can be looked into after.
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What do you do when you’re not working? How do you catch fun?
I love trying out new food at restaurants, going to the market, travelling and binge watching movies.

What’s your philosophy in life?
‘Tomorrow is not promised, make today count ‘

What are the 5 things you can’t step out from your house without?
Fanny pack/bag, Earphones, phone, charger and lipgloss.

Music Money or Tech Money?
Both.

What should we expect from you in the next 5 years?
Msindo Communications and Wayward Visuals will be household names. Other business ventures are definitely on the cards but all of that will aid me and my team in changing the face of African music, 1 country at a time.
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