Kulenyane releases Lejebha
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Sunday September 12, 2021 06:00
The six-track album, which dropped Tuesday afternoon, is Mogwe’s third as a solo artist.
Although it is still fresh, the album promises to be a banger, as he features artists such as Mmaausi, founding member of Culture Spears Thembeni Ramosetheng, Lydia Oile as well as South African artist Mxolisi Mhlongo. He also features one of his triplets’ sisters Neo Mogwe, who sings on at least two songs in the album.
The songs of the album are Mogatse KB, Magadigadi, Lejebha, Montsheng Dithakga and Kwazulu-Natal. Mogatse KB and the title track were first released as singles a few months back prior to the release of this album. It is not the first time that Kulenyane and Mmaausi have collaborated in a song after their 2017 hit single called Dibeisane. which blew traditional music fans away in the process activating the Christmas mood.The song is rich in Setswana proverbs, making it more appealing.
This time, the two collaborated in the song Magadigadi, which is more of your typical manyalo song. Like Dibeisane, the song is rich in Setswana, making it more appealing. The title track tells a sad story of a young man who was asked to bear a child for a chief, as the chief was infertile. But after that, the young man was forced into exile or risk being killed to save the chief’s image and dignity. It has the typical Culture Spears melody. Although Kulenyane has tried to maintain his original traditional dance beat he is associated with at Culture Spears, he keeps deviating, which shows a sign of his maturity and versatility.
In an interview with Arts & Culture, Kulenyane said his music would always carry the rich Setswana element, as it is his intention to keep the Setswana traditional music going despite challenges. He said ever since joining music, he has worked on different 10 albums, including those released under Culture Spears brand consistently without slowing down, which shows his commitment and growth.
“It is not easy to release an album, let alone a traditional music album. COVID-19 has made things worse. But I’m very proud of myself because I have maintained the traditional music because that’s my identity. When people see me outside the country, they see Botswana and that has kept me going. I’m happy to say the people love it,” he said.
Kulenyane said while the pandemic has disrupted the music industry, artists should not despair. He advised them to treat this as a moment of growth and use it wisely. “It is sad that the pandemic disrupted a lot of lives. We could be far. However, since this thing happened the world over, we should treat this period as a gap year and use it to grow,” he added. This album follows the one he released in 2020 called Didimala Moratiwa, which had the hit track Sibi released in 2019.