Mazolwana pays tribute to Batswana

GASEBALWE SERETSE
Staff Writer | Thursday March 27, 2008 00:00

 

Mazolwana says Batswana had been unwavering in their support when he went through some turbulent times, which is why he decided to headline his album Tshukudu Ya Poo. Other songs in the album include Ayabizwa, Mntuyedwa, Nontombeko, Bakithi, Mama, Mali, Lindani, Lekwalo and Nojongile.

According to Mazolwana, the title song is in Xhosa and it is called Inkunzi Ka Bejane. The artiste says Inkunzi Ka Bejane is very popular on the Eastern Cape where he comes from.

'I have a lot of support in Botswana so as a way of paying tribute to Batswana I decided to translate this song into Setswana with the help of Neo Lekomola,' says the artiste.

Lekomola together with Kgathatso Khowe are his proteges and they are registered under his newly established label as Chesa.

At the height of his fame, Mazolwane worked under the South African disco king Dan Tshanda and together with other bands, under the latter's stable, amassed a huge following in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Tshanda came up with a different blend of disco that infuses disco beats with Venda traditional music and as a result his stable was able to survive the era that was dominated by the likes of Brenda Fassie, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Rebecca Malope and Sello Chicco Twala among others.

However, with the advent of kwaito, which was made popular by Arthur Mafokate in the 90's, the star of many disco artistes started to wane. As if that was not enough, Mazolwane parted ways with the formidable Tshanda in 2004. Although the disco artiste claims that parting with Tshanda did not affect him much, Tshanda's fellow stablemates are still regarded as leaders in the disco genre.

'I would say my sales are still good but I will always acknowledge that I built my name at Dan's place,' asserts Mazolwane.

Mazolwane says that although he has parted ways with his mentor and lost his original stage name, Peacock, most of his fans have not abandoned him. He also claims that his fans always demand to see the original Peacock when Tshanda and his stablemates come to perform in Botswana.

'The thing is, my fans recognize my voice and know how I look like physically so when they are told that someone else is Peacock they always question that,' he says.

The disco artiste further says that he has been able to recapture some of his market as Thabile Mazolwana. His fan base is still strong in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia and his home province of Eastern Cape.

He adds that in South Africa, the disco genre has been overtaken by the kwaito and house genres although it still has good support in Botswana.

'In South Africa, when you mention a past era star they will ask you if the person is still around,' he says jokingly.

Whilst in this country, he has been able to work with the likes of Dikakapa, Stompie and Shumba Ratshega and he says that he is making enough money to survive.

By his own admission, most disco artistes are struggling to survive because their market is dwindling and that is the reason why they have to focus only in places where their popularity it is still strong.

To fully exploit his existing market, he divides his time between Tlokweng and Johannesburg, South Africa, where his stable is based.

So far in his career, Mazolwana has released three albums namely Isiponono (2000), Ntyilo Ntyilo (2001) and Thusang (2003) under Dan Tshanda. Independently he has released three namely Italente (2004), Ndisize (2005), Vulani (2006) and the forthcoming Tshukudu Ya Poo.