03 Apr 2013

Dressed in an old time police uniform, the Mazganda.com duo of Tebogo Nkadile and Chilume Mbengwa, both born 30 years ago, have been dishing out music together for three years.

Nkadile aka Ras-T from Kanye and Mbengwa aka Gujes from Maitengwe, always leave a mark where they performed. The group was formed in 2010 after the two singers had met twice during the constituency competitions in Francistown and later during the President’s Day.

“I was representing Francistown East and Gujes was representing Francistown West,” said Ras-T. Their, Mazganda name was derived from a Setswana name masekanta, a name given given to someone who plays a guitar, particularly the olden day three-stringed tin guitar.

The duo does folklore music, with some tunes from the well-known folk musician late Stampore. They said they sing this type of music in order to promote Setswana culture.

They released their first album entitled Tigelileni in August last year. “The album has six tracks and was recorded at Tholo records in Francistown. The message behind Tigelileni is that people live to die and those who think they could bewitch or kill others would have their day.

Mazganda.com said their songs were of high quality as they were well arranged and comical as well. “I assure you that we are the first lineup of young people to do such kind of music and the melody is different from other artistes,” said Gujes.

They said that people appreciated their music because they played live and people around Francistown always wanted to see them performing. “No matter where we perform, our fans are always behind us and supporting our music regardless of the price they have to pay,” added Ras-T.

The duo said it had performed in several shows such as Botswana Confederation of Commerce, Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM) awards, World Aids Day, World Theatre Day and many more.

“We have shared the stage with music gurus such as Franco and Ndingo Johwa, as well as Botswana Defence Force (BDF) Band,” said Ras-T.

They said challenges included clients who were always reluctant to pay for their performance. “I have realised that Batswana really like entertainment but do not want to pay for what they have been offered and this demoralises us,” added Ras-T.

He said wherever there was live music there is life because performers are paid what they deserve and that is the reason why they want to see themselves performing in Gaborone.

The duo said every time they compete they make sure they win because they take their work very seriously. “We have come a long way in this industry as we both have released solo albums before we met; we realize we have a love for the guitar,” said Gujes.

They urged upcoming artists not to focus on music but to do something beside it because the music industry in Botswana was still struggling.

“Find yourself a job to earn a living because music is not something one can depend on here in our country,” added Ras-T.

They urged artists to play live music because people never hesitate to pay to come and witness live music performance. “We plead with Batswana to pay us what we have agreed on after performing because it seems we gain popularity that belies our financial status,” said Ras-T.

The duo aims to win this year’s President Day Competition and they have embarked on a number of fund raising concerts in and around Francistown in order to assist the 25 soldiers whose properties were burnt to ashes early this year.ENDS