26 Mar 2013

Having invested in music almost a decade ago as a kwaito artiste and managed to make his name a household one with the hit Mogoditshane route Seven, Kagiso Otukile is back again with another hit Imali.

 

The 31-year-old Kanye born lad, affectionately known as Coloza to most of his followers landed in the music world a decade back with his debut album, Bazo Xwala, which was released from TM Records in 2003 after being baked at World of Music Records, where he was working as a producer. The album enjoyed the airwaves in all local radio stations. 

 

The young and energetic Coloza remembers very well that he was the only kwaito artiste in Botswana during those times, which were his hey days since there was no competition at all. Since then there was no turning back for this self-made soldier.  

 

Coloza was followed by newly emerging artistes such as Mapetla and Vee, who rendered the going tough as they made him work ‘overtime’. However, the young star never gave up, instead he soldiered on and made his second album, which was released in 2005 titled Iphendula after his son who was born the same year.

 

The album was a dynamite with a hit song Mogoditshane Route Seven, the streets anthem of the time. 

 

This is the album he recorded in his own studio, Ruff Rule Records, which was located at Block 9 in Gaborone. In this album he worked with a Malawian national, Immanuel Nyirenda, who also ran Technodig Records studio in Kanye. 

 

Coloza says in his new offering, which is due to be released sometimes this year, he has demonstrated growth. He said his massage is to teach people about the experience of life and current affairs. In Imali, he talks about money and its influence.

 

“Money is the reason for everything to happen, bad or good, in fact people live for money” he said. The album sees the maestro add value to music by upgrading it from kwaito to Afro Kwaito genre, which he says has an influence of jazz and mpaqanga. 

 

He says back in the days he was catering only for the youth, but now he finds it better to serve all generations. It is for this reason that he composes his music in both Setswana and Zulu to cater for the elderly, especial the retirees from South African mines. Coloza says the other thing is to reach international audience, which is sometimes affected by the language barriers. 

 

He says he is planning to also sing in Swahili as it seems to be common amongst the African countries. In his latest offering, which comprises of the likes of  Mapantsula, features local artistes such as Dixon 5 and Dikhumo. 

 

Another hit to die for is Banna Wee, which is much more jazzy than others. He says he has been baking the album for long because he wanted it to be a master piece. 

It is now complete, but he is still adding some finishing touches. 

 

He says his mission is to even make even the stingiest of the people to pop out money and get their own copies without any hesitations. Coloza says he is determined to raise his status in music although it has been a long break for him. 

 

“I should admit it’s pretty tough, but I’m not scared of anyone else today, in fact they made me stronger than before, people like me you can shake, but never destroy,” explained Coloza. 

 

Coloza said music is very important to the lives of people in general, saying some of the youth who venture into music have changed for the better because they are regarded as celebrities, which he said is a plus to them. For those who were gangsters they got rehabilitated.  

 

Coloza lamented that music in Botswana is not growing at all even though new artistes emerge every day. He blames the government for treating music as a hobby, but not a business, like in other countries. 

 

Coloza says unlike with sports, government does not give much attention to music. He says many sportsmen are curving a leaving from their trade.He did not spare the media for not promoting the music industry sufficiently. 

 

He says it is impossible for the media to cover music live. He says most of our radio stations play international products than playing local material. However, Coloza said he would not blame the media that much since some of our artistes do not come up with quality and for that not everyone can play low quality music during their shows. 

 

Coloza called for proper control of foreign artistes whom he said are favoured at the expense of local ones, noting that local artistes are famous, but remain poor because of piracy, which appears to be difficult to control.

 

Commenting on promoters and manager as well as studios and companies, Coloza said they are not helping in any form, but kill the industry too. 

“Most of them would never support you from the initial stage, but would approach you when they have realised that you have a niche in the industry to reap a lot out of you,” said Coloza. 

 

He said these are the very people who sponsor foreign musicians to come to Botswana at very high cost instead of uplifting local musician. ENDS