Sway by Way of Modernization

PHENOMOLOGY OF LESOTHO MUSIC IN TIMES OF ‘SWAG’

                “A collective drive of immorality”

By: John Ralebitso

The specimen of Academia often say the power of the mind exudes the infinite universe of possibilities hence Artists have gone beyond infinity in the spectre of creativity. Living in a such a stagnantly patriarchal society as Lesotho has always given me a major concern regarding the growth of ‘popular’

youth trends and music.

Flickering through the channels on my Radio Set last Friday, I bumped into the broadcast of the Vodacom Superstar top 20 finalists. As if my foresight was a validation of anguish that I had predicted during the national audition phase, I knew that the youth culture was yet to face an embarrassing climb-down. I was not really sold into the idea of being excited about this competition because of previous mediocrity that we have experienced regarding the so-called competitions and Awards in this country.

But let me be modest and let my doubts to varnish in vain because prizes are groundbreaking atleast.

I am not really sure if it was fair for creators of the competition to wrestle up ‘pop culture’ music with Famo and Gospel. And what also ensued throughout the whole judging process is in my opinion the pre-emptive agendas that lacks transparency and clearly defined target market.

But what could have made Hip hop& Kwaito to suffer such an embarrassing pitfall in the selection process which scoped diction, lyrical content and posture/gestures amongst others?

I would have ideally shunned the temptation of saying Lesotho music but I want the context to be precinct and literal to the simple eye as a means of scoping our own identity within the world wide musical traditions and culture. Our local music industry is characterised by many a genre but i will position my focus on Famo, Hip hop and Kwaito.

Like an eagle seizing a baby kitten, many young music lovers have felt like the past generation sees us(the now generation) as deficient thus bolstering their own collective ego based on high moral ground. Instead of making me snap out of my torpor as a youth, the latter statement validates my long winded analogy that the ‘pop culture’ ,which is also infused in our local styles of music, has dented the prospect of a smooth musical maturity.

The vulgar language and depiction of sexual animation now has pride, labels and of course a huge target market jumping into the Westerners loose moral bandwagon. What was once a shady loser hovering on the fringes and an amorphous mob has now grown into a coherent identity of style trend and a socio-movement.

The triumphalism of incompetence and loose lifestyles has developed to become a gem that gets flaunted as a token of superiority in dialogues and lyrics that we listen to today. Within the slow stitches of the speeches that I had listened to from my childhood in music, I have never felt so unsure about the purpose of music like I do in this day and age. What is the dream of music? What does it aim to impart to the world?

I might be a bit of an old school leftie when it comes to this subject but even some level-headed realists like myself share the same sentiments. In this day and age when there is a wide diaspora of social ills that can be remedied through music, it is quite displeasing to listen to the lyrical content that celebrates subject matters that embarrasses one to even listen in the presence of parents.

On the real, young Artists through their music should serve as the only transmitters of local traditional culture that should be transcended to the next generation. Through sad communal evils facing Lesotho, our youths’ thoughts and feelings of fear and epochs in equilibrium should give birth to a possible ideal of perfection not some western state of mind.

Famo and Hip hop music are increasingly becoming notorious for fuelling ‘beef’ amongst its stalwarts which promotes incitement and ‘artistic factionalism.’ But art is a refuge of relaxation and a peace propagating tool. Though the sound has evolved, the content has also lost consciousness too. The metaphorical rise and fall of Artistic Empires has evolved from the primordial soup of niche, barely-comprehensive monochrome, text-and symbol based smart technology to a perilous venture easily foiled by a step in the wrong direction.

Speaking to one Hip hop Artist who happened to have participated in the Maseru leg of the Vodacom Superstar competition, I gathered a lot about his disappointment to the craft of hip hop which he loves very much. He complained a lot about how young, inexperienced so-called hip hopers dent the image of their craft which serves as a disincentive to acknowledgment of hip hop by Judges in competitions like the latter.

The elimination of the household names like Skebza D, Juvenile, Black Magic etc in the top 20 is prove enough that the youth representation in the competition has suffered a major setback. But I’ve got my homie Stlofa in the running and I hope he brings the coveted crown home where it belongs; to the long-time ‘hasslers’ who have been pushing hard without recognition, well, monetary that is.

John Senekane Ralebitso is a Business Consultant, Network Specialist and Professional Speaker.

Contacts: 58081656