Prime Circle and RADA Unearthed

New music from Prime Circle and RADA Unearthed encourages us to Keep Marching On, despite the current political climate.

With six studio albums under their belt, Prime Circle aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. The local rock legends have achieved more than most. Longevity aside, the band have attained multi-platinum-selling status in South Africa, they have performed the world over – recently returned from a sold-out show in London.

The success has certainly been thrilling, but victory is not the only thing these natural-born music makers are chasing. Wanting to give back a little, Prime Circle have teamed up with non-profit company RADA (an acronym for rape, alcohol, drug and abuse), and their CSI music project RADA Unearthed.

Late last year, RADA Unearthed launched a compilation album featuring a bevy of South African talent, including Prime Circle. The album’s main focus is to give up-and-coming musicians a platform to showcase their talent. Since the local rockers are certainly not in need of additional exposure, their contribution served a different purpose: to create and boost awareness of RADA and RADA Unearthed.

Formed in December 2000 in Witbank, Mpumalanga, Prime Circle are a forced to be reckoned with, giving of their very little spare time to raise awareness around RADA Unearthed and more predominantly RADA itself.

Ross says, “The world is fraught with undeniable hurt and the work RADA do is invaluable. J-P and I have known each other for some time now and getting involved with his non-profit company was an easy choice. We wanted to give back to the community, not only the music community, but the community as a whole, creating a sense of hope and inspiration for future generations. 

“Keep Marching On is a song about facing the obstacles that life throws our way. Finding light in the dark that surrounds us, especially in the current climate our country faces. It’s time to be brave, to give of our best and keep marching on.”

Based on statistics, South Africa is seen as the world’s rape capital. In February 2013, J-P Nobrega was sitting in traffic on his way to work. It was an ordinary day, the same old queue of cars steadily pacing the highway. Listening to his daily dose of the Breakfast Show with Darren Simpson on what was then known as 94.7 Highveld Stereo, J-P noticed something unusual, something was different today.

Every few minutes – four to be exact – a beep would echo over the air, interrupting their daily broadcast. He soon learnt that the beep symbolised every time someone was raped in the country, a rape campaign which was being broadcast in conjunction with LEAD SA. It was a hard hitting realisation. For many it was frightening, but would remain just a momentary realization.

For J-P, it was the planting of a very important seed that would grow and be nurtured into something far greater. He had had enough. Switching off the radio, J-P went to bed that night with a black cloud hanging over his head. He knew something had to be done. After much deliberation and research – which led to the discovery of issues far broader than the uncontrollable rise in rape statistics – he decided to leave his cushy job as an accountant, sold all of his valuable possessions and started RADA, a non-profit company, together with Jacqueline Gilbert the Managing Director of RADA. J-P now eats and breathes RADA alongside his personal tax practice.

RADA adopts a holistic approach to renewal – using proactive education programmes to develop skills, behaviours and attitudes which shall lead to improved self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making, including reactive healing processes in caring for people who face adversity.