Mascom bash leaves out music giants

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Correspondent | Wednesday February 14, 2007 00:00

With the exception of Culture Spears and Mapetla, the line up for the Mascom bash also includes the not-so-famous Gaborone rappers, Scar and Stagga, and pop group Shalawa. Mascom Public relations manager, Odirile Motlhale, referred all questions relating to the line up for the bash to Ventura, the company contracted to organise the performers.

It appears Mascom did not include well-known crowd pullers such as Machesa, Vee, Maxy, Matsieng, Jeff Matheatau, Franco Lesokwane, and many other popular artistes.
The public is expected to vote by SMS for the top three artistes from the list, sending the artiste's name to 14909.   The Mascom bash would also feature three DJs, also to be voted for by the fans.

The DJs in the running are Sly, Mr. O, DJ O'Neal, The Beat Premiers, EZB, DJ Traxx, McD, and DJ Choto.

But with such a huge subscriber base whose taste of music obviously goes beyond rap, kwaito, and borankana, would it not have been better for the bash organisers to add more music flavour to the line up? When asked why other genres such as jazz, pop, and other popular groups have not been included to cater for Mascom's huge subscriber base, the event's chief organiser, Robin Chivazve of Ventura, said, first, they researched to find out who would be available on the day, adding that they missed out on other musicians because they are contracted to a rival network, while others were eliminated for one reason or another.

'I have never seen an Orange ring tone contract, certainly some artistes were restricted by their contracts with Orange but we moved on. Some could not be available on the day due to other obligations. They could not wait for something they are not sure about because this also involves people voting for them to perform,' explained Chivazve. He, however, said he was not prepared to get into details as to which musicians declined the offer.

When asked why he included rap, the least popular genre, on the list, Chivazve said they had to cater for the rap lovers because they are also Mascom subscribers. ' We tried as much as possible to include other genres like hip hop. We thought this is representative of Botswana's most popular artistes,' Chivazve said, adding that it was a difficult choice to make. He conceded that reaching a compromise would always give one a headache, but hoped that other genres would be catered for if his company were engaged again for the tenth anniversary celebrations.

Although there have been suggestions that some big artistes might have been left out because they are contracted to the rival network, investigations by Showbiz   reveal otherwise.  Showbiz has since established that some crowd pullers have a loose contract with Orange that does not bar them from performing at Mascom functions. Showbiz has also found out that other crowd pullers are not contracted to either of the rival networks but were not invited to perform.

Lesokwane told Showbiz that he is not contracted to either Mascom or Orange and that no one approached him about the Mascom bash. ' As an artiste with a large following, I did not rush to sign contracts with either of them because I was not happy with their offer. So I'm not tied to anyone at the moment and no one at Mascom has approached me about the bash', Lesokwane said. Another hot act, Odirile Vee Sento, who is contracted to Orange, denied being barred from performing at Mascom events.

'I have a flexible contract with Orange, they do not bar me from performing at Mascom events. As you saw last time, I performed at a Mascom-sponsored awards night; there was no problem. No one checked with me from Mascom whether I would be available for the show or not', Vee said.

Strangely, the likes of trumpeter Moruakgomo, and jazz vocalist Punah Gabasiane, who have immense followings, have signed with Mascom yet they have not been included for voting to perform at the bash.

'I am contracted to Mascom; they use my songs for ring tones,' said Gabasiane. 'I saw the list of performers and thought that perhaps they were using their own formula.

Certainly, I was not approached as an artiste. I would have loved to perform.'

David 'Skizo' Molosi, CEO of Forensic records, the company whose artistes include among others T.H.A.B.O, Machesa, and Lister Boloseng, said they have not been approached about the Mascom bash. He also said his artistes are not tied to any of the cellular networks.

'That is not to say that they owe us any explanation. They are not a charity, they have the prerogative to decide whom to utilise for their events; we cannot hold them at ransom for their choice, but to answer your question, we are not contracted to anybody,' said Molosi.