29 Jan 2018

From her early childhood, Fifi wanted to be more than a performer, she wanted to be a superstar. Born Refilwe Matlhake-Radovic, the Mmadinare-born songbird, is tipped to be the next best thing in local music scene and her journey to stardom has not been all rosy. Armed with strong work ethics and natural talent, Fifi naturally fell in love with the arts and she cannot pick the exact moment when she decided to be in the show business.

Her journey in music dates way back when she was five- years-old as she used be a lead singer during her elementary school days. The passion lived on until her secondary school variety show days.  She performed in a variety of talents show during her secondary school days and can vividly remember the attention and admiration she got from the audience.   From those days, she was hooked, and she knew from that moment that she wanted to entertain people.

Fifi broke into the music business soon after doing a jingle for a certain radio station, which opened up many opportunities with households’ artists. The jingle, she said was just what the doctor ordered to launch her professional singing career as it was then followed up by feature appearances in Dj Ski Vs Big Dawg hit singles titled Why you come here and Feeling uneasy.

Later on, she appeared on T.H.A.B.O’s debut album and BK Proctor’s master piece album on the title track.

Fifi lives, breathes and sleeps the arts and said the arts reflected life.  “I am a part of the entertainment industry that strives to break these stereotypes on a daily basis, which lends a hand to social cohesion,” she said.

“Telling stories that inspires and teaches is one of my favourite aspects of being an artist” and with success as both a musician and performer, Fifi has more platforms than most to tell such stories,” she added. Stories narration through music comes natural to Fifi, whose colorful childhood as the first born of five siblings was spent in Gaborone in a homestead, where music was forever food for the soul.

With such a diverse array on influences, it is not surprising that she is such a multifaceted artist, whose music fuses Afro pop, R n B and trap soul.

Through the ups and downs of building a career in the spotlight and having a personal life made public, Fifi always relied on her family particularly her husband’s support to steer the ship to safer shores in difficult storms.

“Family is everything, those are your people, your base and my family particularly my husband has been a pillar of strength from the word go.  “Focusing on my work and bountiful family life help me through the challenges that comes with being the public eye”. “I am blessed with a close nit family that immensely inspire me when I most need them to stay grounded and focused,” she said

With a studio album in the horizon, Fifi is keen to transform her cover song performance experience in to studio work that will leave many asking for more and enjoy high rotation on many radio stations.

One of the biggest challenges in her music career, she said it had been her doubts in her abilities.

“Self-doubt  has over the years been my main challenge, but I am however working on improving that,” she said.

The older she grows, she said, the easier it gets to find a balance between her career and personal life and experience had taught her to run her own race and choose to only do what is of  importance  to her career enhancement.  With Fifi’s popularity steadily rising, it is clear that keeping the public guessing is a winning strategy, whether she is doing cover songs and working on a personal album, her infectious love for music and life in general is undeniable. “My main accomplishment is achieving peace and happiness. Sometimes you think it is success, and you think that it’s being a big star. But I want respect, and I want friendship and love and laughter, and I want to grow,” she said. ENDS