BY KIMBERLY KARIATI MARABI musician Kireni Zulu has warned up-and-coming musicians to stay away from drugs during the COVID-19-induced lockdown if they are to be success stories in their musical careers. The remarks by the veteran singer, who is regarded as a father figure in the showbiz circles, comes on the backdrop of several reports of drug and alcohol abuse in the music industry amid beliefs that drugs enhance artistes’ creativity. In an interview with NewsDay Life & Style, Zulu said self-discipline was key for up-and-coming artistes if they wanted to be great musicians recognised both locally and internationally. “This is a very testing and trying time for fresh talent, especially in the early stages of their careers. My advice to new and up-and-coming artistes is that the best they can do is refrain from drug use as it has been the downfall of quite a large number of young musicians,” Zulu said. “As young up-and-coming musicians, they must stay away from drugs, which many aspiring musicians believe is the impetus for a good performance.” He said it was better for the rising stars to endure pain under lockdown and have a great career in the future as there is hope after the coronavirus pandemic. A number of artistes, both seasoned and up-and-coming particularly in the dancehall genre, are reportedly heavily involved in drug abuse, which is known to paralyse potential careers. Some of the artistes who have been caught in the drug abuse matrix include Dobba Don and the late Zimdancehall chanter Soul Jah Love, who openly admitted indulging in drugs and apologised to his fans. Meanwhile, as COVID-19 has not spared the creative sector, Zulu said he had been forced to put on hold the release of his new song Tongai Zvenyu, which features Chief Hwenge. “We are not doing anything as of now as currently there is restricted accessibility to recording studios for several artistes as both audio and visual productions have been put on a halt,” he said. “We are just looking forward to the lifting of the COVID-19 restrictions so that we can go back to the recording studio. Survival is even very difficult since there is nothing much musically that we can do to put food on our tables.” In his career which spans over a decade, Zulu has helped a number of up-and-coming artistes including his daughter to launch careers in this competitive industry. Follow Kimberly on twitter  @lizellekimkari