13 Oct 2014

On top of his game, Batlaadisa Radipitse picks up his guitar and begins to tune.

One by one he picks strings and out of each comes a new stimulating hum sufficient to tease anyone. Notwithstanding this, he will deliberately disregard any cheerful resort as he pushes to a point where one will either sing along or dance.

And that will be a cherry on top of the cake he is about to dish yet he would not be carried away. For him, being loud-mouthed and attention-seeking is not his caliber, but it is rather the alluring sounds of the touch of his guitar strings that ignites and does all the talking.

“Tota nna karata ga kea e rutiwa. It is something that I learned from watching my brother playing,” said the Mmankgodi born guitarist. At a youthful age of 25 years, Radipitse has already curved himself a name among the most celebrated guitarists of the modern times.

For the past two years, the young self-taught guitarist has been like a whirlwind in the folklore music genre. First he beat renowned guitarists such as Solly Sebotso and Stiger Sola for the crown of the President Day Arts Competitions guitar category last year.

The fate that he repeated this year against all odds and he sent the same celebrated guitarists to the dust on the same game they profess to master.  “Last year I was not expecting to win anything but this year I was convinced that I will,” said the youthful guitarist ridding on cloud nine.

Ever since dropping his pen at Kagiso Senior Secondary School in 2009, the young lad has found a true comfort in the strings of his guitar. At first, playing the traditional guitar was a move born of desperation to do away with daily boredom.

Not even were his own brethren and neighbours aware that he harbored such skills and talent. “I will rush into the house and hide the guitar if I found that someone was entering our yard,” he confessed.

Little did he know that he would not run away forever as eventually one of his allies caught him by surprise and was astounded by his skills. “I started to perform along his drama group and that how I managed to gain stage confidence,” he said.

Eventually it became obvious that he would not be going anywhere, unless something changes for the better. Hence he tried his luck with the President Day Arts competitions but was unfortunately ejected by the big names during the competition initial stages.

Once beaten, that fate led to further dedication as he devoted more energy to make it happen next time. “I knew that next time will have to compete, I had to sit down and come up with something that will standout straightaway,” he said.

On square one, he came up with the song, , Batswana a re tsoseng ngwao which indeed worked wonders as he went all the way to win the next competition. Instantly, the song started to play on Radio Botswana hence making his name known to places he has never visited yet he was not carried away.

The marginal fame challenged him surpass the 2013 accomplishment and he came up with Motlhapisa podi e ngolwana ga ake ae anya which when loosely when translated means that a person who starts something is not necessarily the beneficiary.

The song thrilled audience and the judges were equally blown away as they bestowed him the 2014 President Day Arts competitions champion hence making him a back to back winner.  All this provided a perfect glimpse of test of thing to come for Radipitse hence he now harbors a dream of having his own compilation.

“Although I want to have an album, I want to retain my identity,” said the guitarist Radipitse who still regard himself novice. Nonetheless, he harbors strong reservations about submerging his music to an already established band.

While his rise to stardom may seem like a rapid one, he considers that luck has quite little to do with it. “As an artist, you need work hard and aim to surpass what you previously produced,” he added.

Therefore admirers will have to wait a little longer before they could enthusiastically get hold of his album as he considers options carefully. For now and the future, guitarists has promised to survive the envy for traditional beef which has been a trap to many of the renowned of guitarists.

“Rra batho ba rata dipina tsame, thata le gone,” he emphasized and added that it is the positive feedback strengthens he desire to move on with music. Ends