Gaslee releases Manthulathulane
Maureen Odubeng | Thursday July 10, 2014 16:08
Gospel Hip Hop is the one sub-genre, which lately seems to be gaining a lot of popularity worldwide.
Gase ‘Gaslee’ Sikwa has released one such upbeat gospel album, with danceable tunes. If there is one thing one can give to gospel musicians is their attention to detail.
Most gospel singers harmonise their music, and most of them have vocal ability, something, which cannot be said for musicians in most genres in local entertainment.
Gaslee’s debut, Manthulathulane is nothing short of spectacular. The beats and vocals are in harmony showing that all involved in the project put in a lot of work right from the lead and backing vocalists, to producers and mixers. He describes his product as “having an element of gospel hip-hop”. The eight-track album contains songs, which have the potential to appeal to believers and non-believers alike.
The title track Manthulathulane, has interesting lyrics, which Gaslee uses as a metaphor for the greatness of the Almighty God.
Looking at the title of the song one might not immediately associate it with gospel until one listens to the song.
The song starts off saying: “Satane ke manthulathulane, kgomo e e senang dinaka, nna ga e kake ya nthula, nka ithulela ka thapelo.”
The song goes on to discredit Satan, and praise prayer as the best shield against evil. Gaslee tells Showbiz that he wrote all the songs in the album except two being Sefefo Sa Moya and Rock Of Ages, which he said are popular hymns sung by different churches.
Another interesting song is Devil Is A Liar. The song has an upbeat tempo, and the lyrics dismiss the Devil, as a liar and a joker. The song, however, is not loaded with words, but still delivers the message that the devil can be defeated with prayer.
Gaslee says that his album is primarily geared towards spreading the word of God. Interestingly, he says, he does not restrict himself to performing at church events only. He explains that for him it is about spreading the word of God, hence the decision to accept invitations from all corners.
“We recently performed at a Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) launch in Kopong, where they were launching Vincent Seretse,” he says.
He further explains that people sometimes want to make it political when musicians perform at rallies, but says in his case he sees that as another platform to promote his music. He says that if any other political party were to invite him to perform he would gladly accept.
While he keeps it about work he at the same time spreads the word of God.
Other songs in the album are It Is Well, Ma Apostolo, Thabo and You Are Special.
The album was recorded at BMP in Gaborone. It is produced by Bullet Ketshabile, and programmed by Bretz Seakgosing, while Lame Letlaatla mixed and mastered the album. Backing vocalists include Tshenolo Mosimane and Pona Bakanyana.