The Blackbowties commercialises a cappella
Dumisani Ncube | Tuesday February 21, 2017 14:30
The Blackbowties maintain a cappella style of vocals and beat boxing with some added twists such as Afro pop, soul and funk to their sound to make it more commercial. The four-member group comprises of Taboka Mantsee, Martin Siku, Gosego Mmaleforwana and Eric Kebarejang.
“When making our music we randomly start a melody and see how it comes up then we work on the lyrics aligning them with the melody,” said Mantsee who is the bass and baritone vocalist of the band.
They recently released a 10-track album titled Gola, which has tracks such as Goswamotho, Malibuye, Marabi and Walk away. The songs carry different vibes and messages with the tracks performed in Setswana, Ndebele and English.
“The musical influence started off when we were still singing at church as a gospel group back in 2007. Many people joined and left the group. Our direction from just being a group that sings at church took place when Martin joined us. He came in with the beat boxing, poetry and rapping influence,” Kebarejang who is the lead vocalist said.
The group’s music is often likened to South African trio The Soil due to the vocals and beat boxing, however The Blackbowties were quick to note that they have been heavily influenced by Lady Smith Black Mambazo and The Soil who they failed to meet a few years back when they performed in the country.
Siku who is the beat boxer and poet in the group noted that though they are likened to The Soil they have their own approach and way of doing music since the four members have their own musical talents.
They have performed at a number of places leaving mixed reactions and emotions within the audience, “they love our music, when we perform they cry,” said Kebarejang jokingly.
While still a church group called Soul Brothers they were under the mentorship of Reggie Kopi who gave them musical guidance to the extent that he crafted the group’s name. Despite making circular music the group still maintains their Christianity beliefs.
The group broke into the commercial scene upon meeting their current manager Selby Muir who has taken them to greater heights that even led to them recording their debut album.