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Mbulelo Mpofu, Showbiz Reporter
AFTER a long day’s drive to the City of Kings and Queens, it’s only human for one to need a place to rest. This is where Bulawayo’s hip-hop artiste, Junior Garnet (born Mandlenkosi Dube) comes to your aid — he has established his own Bed and Breakfast joint, Garnet’s Place where you can put your head on a pillow and recharge your batteries.

When masses danced the night out at the Roil Bulawayo Arts Awards (BAA) held at the Large City Hall’s Auditorium on Christmas Eve, Garnet welcomed his first batch of clients at his place along Gwanda Road.

Garnet’s Place.

It is sporadic for one to see a local rapper owning a business of the Garnet’s Place magnitude but the “He is the way” hit maker has made it his resolve to be etched in the city’s history as one artiste who broke the entrepreneurial barrier after being homeless for a while at some point in his life.

Saturday Leisure spoke to the rapper and entrepreneur who shared his life-long vision of balancing art and entrepreneurship.

“We are just trying to bridge the gap between the corporate world and arts. I have been an artiste before and I worked so much towards being appreciated enough by the communities I served and I approached people in the corporate world so that I could add bread and butter to the works but it was all in vain,” said Garnet.

Garnet, a man who has been rejected by people he thought loved him, values acceptance and acknowledges the need to support each other in the music sector after he invited singer, MJ Sings for a free lunch at Garnet’s Place.

This is after MJ Sings’ Roil BAA memorable night where he scooped a couple of gongs.

“MJ Sings has told his story for a long time and at this stage, he needs people to openly acknowledge how far he has come and that will help fuel his efforts to do even better. One day, we should be able at Garnet’s Place to financially help such people because that’s where their bread should rightfully be buttered,” said Garnet.

Garnet has a knack for turning whatever is in his hands into gold as he also owns App A Combo, a mobile food joint that he established in the Covid-19 ravaged 2022.

At Garnet’s Place, one gets to wine, dine and sleep at either Blue or Orange Couch Bedrooms or a Master Bedroom while enjoying televised entertainment and a cool breeze.

“I have learned that there is a lot that the corporate world takes for granted in terms of the arts. Yes, they engage with the ones that give them back their desired mileage but also the growing artistes will actually put more effort towards gaining mileage for a certain corporation because, to them, it’s more of an achievement that they are being approached than it is about how much they will get out of the deal.

“Also, it’s safer when the money circulates among us as a community because it means at the end of the day, one of us has been empowered by us and they will empower the next person and before we even know, we have a whole community surviving,” he added.

Garnet believes Garnet’s Place will offer something different in the market.

“Garnet’s Place is here to change the game as we will offer details to service. Our breakfast starts with cereal and after that, we prepare a ‘heavy breakfast’ towards their checking out time which is 11.30 am (they stay longer and feel relaxed because no one is rushing them to leave). Mostly, we have set up a place with rooms that feel like home and a dining area also that makes you feel warm and at home,” said the proprietor. – @eMKlass_49.