Masego Woki makes her name in international music industry
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Thursday October 20, 2016 14:55
Masego was recently invited by Global Fusion Music and Arts to perform in London during Botswana’s Golden Jubilee celebrations. During an interview with Showbiz, Masego said after a successful performance, she got two more invitations from the Botswana Embassy in London and Brand Botswana who asked her to perform at the country’s 50th Independence celebrations on September 30 and October 1, 2016 respectively.
“Global Fusion Music and Arts had called me to perform in London last year after hearing my album Bua Re Utlwe, which they liked very much.
I was thrilled when they told me that they wanted to partner with me and sponsored my new album Gae Ke Ko Kae,” she said proudly. Masego’s first performance in the UK was last year, at the invitation of Global Fusion and Arts. She said she met Merapelo Selogelwa of Botswana Community in the UK who invited her to be the guest artist and that was when their relationship was born.
Masego said this time around, her two-week visit was more exciting because she had more activities lined-up. One of the activities was a children’s workshop where they taught Batswana children staying in the UK the national anthem. She said Khaya Groth who taught the children how to play drums known as percussions accompanied her. “We also had a short film about Botswana. Batswana staying in the UK also had an opportunity to taste Setswana food, which was cooked by Boikanyo Phenyo. As we know, it is not easy to find Setswana food abroad so Phenyo treated them to delicious dishes such as dikgobe, seswaa and other dishes,” she said.
She said her ability to get exposure in UK was made possible by her husband who is active there.
She further said her husband kept her music alive abroad. “If I am not there, my husband is keeping up the good work. He does all the performance. We also have a band based in the UK called Kalahari Jazz Band, which is also doing very well there,” she said.
Furthermore, she explained that even though she would like to relocate to UK, she could not do that because she did not want her children to grow in a foreign country as they might end up losing their roots. She pointed out that culture was important to her and she wanted her children growing up knowing Setswana tradition.
Masego said she intends to join forces with local musicians so that she can get the exposure she deserves. She further pointed out that it is high time local artists took themselves seriously.