14 May 2018

 Inspired by positive feedback from his fans after performances at festivals, Molepolole born Mpho Marokane, who goes by the stage name, Dope Skelem, and formerly Ntsimbi Skelem, decided to give them a taste of his new Hip Hop-Kwaito song by dropping O etsang single.

“It’s just a ‘feel good appreciation’ because every time I got off-stage, I left people surprised and appreciating just how I made them dance the whole night,” he said.

The enthusiastic rapper, who is currently studying fashion and textile at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, revealed in an interview that he started recording his music professionally back in 2010 under Luush Life Time records in Molepolole.

The young musician said he started his career in the music industry doing kwaito and later switched to what he calls hip-hop/kwaito which caters for both hip hop and pantsula lovers.

Dope Skelem said listening to and watching South African artistes like Bricks, Jub Jub and Brown Dash made him develop the love for music.

“So far I have worked with some local household names in the music industry like Mosako, T.H.A.B.O, Amanandos and others.

 I was introduced to the music industry by a producer called Gape Peter aka Collush who took me from the streets and gave me my first beat. He also mentored me on everything about music,” he said.

He also sings praises of his single called Monday 2 Friday in which he featured Yung Amazing, saying he receives a lot of airplay from all local radio stations, and that the feedback he gets was amazing.

Marokane also thanked his little brother, Henry Marokane, known as Black Pixel, whom he said played a vital role in his music career as he handled his graphic designs and shooting of music videos.

Giving a word to upcoming artistes, Dope Skelem said music was a challenge as someone had to be ready to sacrifice a lot of money and time. ENDS
He encouraged aspiring artistes to invest in their careers and that a positive image was key, adding that for artistes to be taken seriously, they must be professional.