Bafana Ba takes music storytelling to greater heights
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Friday May 29, 2020 17:45
They have a quite unique setting where they sit around and spin hilarious stories and beautiful melodies.
The group comprises three young men namely: Onalenna Maswaneng (Osta Tyger) a 22-year-old from Serowe, Nnete Garebaitse (DaTruth) a 21-year-old from Serowe and Mosa Tshekiso (Ntate Elmo) 23-year-old from Mahalapye with one additional female member who is a vocalist Lydia Lobone (Lylah Lee) a 20-year-old also from Serowe.
In an interview with Arts & Culture Osta Tyger said while they do music as a whole, they chose to specifically focus on hip-hop and motswako. He added that their music engages a lot of humour in craft something which probably is the main attention grabber in their craft. He explained that they were not comedians, but rather singers as many people imagine.
“The basis of our art is more complex because it is not common and it takes a lot of skill to compose and perfect. We chose this concept because it defines our daily lives and experiences in a nutshell. People really love it because they find it fitting and they can relate to our music. They also see it fun to watch,” he said.
The lads have more than 10, 000 following on Facebook, which inspires them to shoot more of their ‘Uncensored Kasi Stories.’ He explained that they are aspired to work even harder because their followers appreciate what they are doing, adding that their following has been growing and it is the positive response they needed.
Even though Osta Tyger said individually they each have been doing music for a long time, he explained that they came together and formed their group last year December. He added that they intend to nurture and grow their talents and make a living out of their talent and definitely be recognised both locally and internationally.
“We have achieved a great deal of public recognition having had a few offers from individuals in the society. We also had a radio interview with Duma FM. The challenges that we face are lack of funds to produce quality products. We have more people following our videos and some of them intend to take advantage of the fact that we are trending for their own benefit not for the betterment of our craft,” he said.
He also said they were currently working on their first single titled ‘Wena’ where they have Nnete Izvare Lubinda as their producer on the project. He added that they were considering selling their craft in CDs, DVDs and other platforms.
Since their establishment, Bafana Ba shot 11 videos of which six have been freestyles and five Uncensored Kasi Stories. He said they were open to work with other musicians, producers or content creators as a whole. He also noted that they were flexible to use their unique talents to promote businesses calling on interested parties to contact them on their Facebook page Bafana Ba, or subscribe to their YouTube channel.
The young talents are students and entrepreneurs. They also sell their merchandise. Oster Tyger said their favourite video is Uncensored Kasi Stories- story Oratile episode one which got more views and likes.