Madd Doggs show much maturity in second album

CHIPPA LEGODIMO
Correspondent | Wednesday August 18, 2010 00:00

 

Like many of their contemporaries, the youngsters could not resist the lure of the kwasa-kwasa beats in their music when they debuted with Tsokotsa two years ago and still continue to cling onto those popular tunes, which have brought both fame and fortune to the likes of Odirile  'Vee' Sento.

But Foromane is an album demonstrating the youngsters' diversity and will to try new things as they go along. The opening track featuring the once popular Coloza of Mogoditshane Route 7 is a mixture of Mbaqanga and kwaito beats with the lead singer reminding the listener of those oldies by South African legendary Mahlathini (Moses Nkabinde) and Mahotella Queens.  Such a creative musician, Coloza has been able to give this number a really rough yet inviting feel for anyone who loves music. If one were to be taken back to the '80s, the track number two shifts you closer to the modernity of music, bringing back those early '90s memories when the then new brand of music called kwaito came in full force to supplant those celebrated disco tunes. Here the boys have filled hardcore kwaito enthusiasts' plate full with well-arranged Zulu lyrics cushioned by brilliant instrumentation.  But as the tape continues different types of music keep cropping up with some gospel beats dominating in some tracks and the kwaito-kwasa brand chipping in the fifth song to capture the modern followers who continue to be captivated by this brand of kwaito, which many believe was a Botswana invention.

Perhaps bringing in two songs from the previous recording was just to stop the fans from wondering whose voices behind this new offering were. The good thing is that while it could be seen as a limitation by these musicians it sure would help those who did not get enough of those old tracks from Tsokotsa a second chance to enjoy and critique their music. The duo of Basimanebotlhe 'Mafia' Raditladi and Mothudi 'Ice' Aogane are in high spirits after completing their second project. According to Ice, the album demonstrates their short yet illustrious journey in the world of music.

'We started as a Kwaito-kwasa outfit, looking to impress the masses and hopefully dislodge some top performers in the genre, but it was never going to be easy. We are not that old in this industry yet we feel we should have been somewhere up there better than where we are currently, but we believe that we have to learn with every new project. So to me our second album shows some maturity in our music because we have been able to explore other areas that we did not cover in the last project.

Kwaito-kwasa is the kind of music that most locals easily relate to but it continues to go down while this old school kwaito seems to be gaining its ground once again, hence our decision to have both in our new album. Using some Mbaqanga tunes was also based on trying to get the older generation's attention to our music, besides, things have changed now we see this trend where younger people are also into the oldies,' Aogane said.

In trying to get a better offering in their second attempt the Kanye lads hooked up with their home boys, producer Lame Letlaatlaa and Coloza to produce the album for them as they believed their different approaches to music would give their listeners a good sound.