Gospel and jazz musician Jonathan Rubain has hit gold!
The Hanover Park star’s gospel album, Koortjies, has achieved Gold Status after selling 15 000 units this week.
Jonathan, 37, who has a talk show on kykNET called Koortjies with Jonathan Rubain, says he drove around the country to malls, shops, churches and even vacant spaces, where he would set up a stall to sell his CDs himself.
The dad of three says people mocked him for the way he hustled to sell his music during the pandemic, but he is proud to have received his gold status plaque.
Jonathan tells the Daily Voice: “This is definitely a dream come true.
“I remember reading magazines and newspapers as a young musician and I saw how artists celebrated their gold status albums and I thought to myself: that will be me one day.
“This is my sixth album and I am super proud.”
The muso adds: “Coming from the Cape Flats, I don’t take this victory for myself; this is for every boy and girl on the Flats who thinks their circumstances determine their future, this is to prove that they can achieve anything.”
Jonathan says it hurt his feelings when mense made gaai of him selling his music from a tafel.
“My friends would show me how people were mocking me.
“One of them posted how funny it looked to see a TV presenter sitting underneath a gazebo in front of a supermarket to sell CDs; that motivated me even more, because I was working hard to provide for my children.”
Some of the areas he travelled to include King Williams Town, East London, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, Kimberley and more.
He says it was sometimes disheartening but he never gave up.
“There were times when I would sit for hours and no one would come, or people would not recognise me.
“It was a humbling experience at times, but worth all my time and effort.”