Juju Boy: The trend-setting pop artist

GASEBALWE SERETSE
Staff Writer | Friday February 19, 2010 00:00

 

These are the lyrics of Kgotla 'Juju Boy' Ntsima's song Hurt Me off his debut album, One Man Rock Band that is currently causing waves in the music circles in the country. There is no doubt that the 27-year-old artist is giving his peers a run for their money. The lyrics of this hit song are sexually suggestive, but strangely there is no uproar concerning it because as Juju Boy puts it, it was just meant to be a-feel-good offering. When the artist recently celebrated the success of the song at a local entertainment spot, scores of revelers attended the event dressed to the nines. Many people followed the theme of the event by dressing in gothic/punk style and the show was a marvel to watch.  A male reveller was seen pulling a willing female fun-lover with a dog leash while beautifully sculpted lasses were clad in their tiniest mini-skirts. People came dressed in all types of leatherwear, holding all sorts off sexually tempting accessories and there was dark make-up galore typical of Goth. Although relatively new in the market, the artist is beginning to amass a huge following on the music scene such that there is a clear indication that he is set for a meteoric rise.

Juju Boy, who sports a stylish Mohawk hairstyle, grew up in the city of Gaborone  where, he says, he was able to interact with some of the leading artists in the country including Odirile 'Vee' Sento, Tshepiso 'Kast' Molapisi and Thato 'Scar' Mathabaphiri. The artist says that his interest in music started while he was still a student and that at some point he belonged to a group that Kast was part of.

After completing his Form Five at St Joseph's College, the self-taught graphic designer then joined an advertising agency called Horizon & Ogilvy before relocating to Johannesburg in South Africa, where he worked for Joe Public, another advertising agency.

'It was while working for Joe Public that I realised that I was bored with what I was doing because I knew that I was supposed to be an artist,' he says.

Juju Boy then quit his job to become a full-time artist back home and he describes that time as happy, but difficult because he did not earn much.

To make ends meet,  the youthful trend-setter freelanced as a graphic designer making sleeves for local artists, which meant that he interacted with a lot of them in the process. Some of his clients included the likes of Dithuso 'DT' Selepeng,  Diratsagae 'Captain Dira' Mahupela  and others who are big names in their own right.

The artist also spent time in the studio and was able to record five tracks that were meant to be in his debut album.

'I decided to ditch the songs because they were not of the quality that I was looking for. I do not want to look like some artists who release albums willy-nilly,' he asserts.

He then focused on working   on his current album 'One Man Rock Album' which contains fifteen full-length tracks and five skits.

Juju Boy believes that the secret behind his success is that he releases singles off the album one by one giving them prominence in the process. He says so far that the most successful track in the album is 'Hurt Me'.

'People just love that song for its sheer naughtiness and they do not have any problem with it because it contains  a bit of humorous elements  in it,' he says.

As mentioned before,  the song has thrust the artist into the limelight and he has become  a celebrated figure in the music industry. Nowadays it is commonplace to hear people of different ages either singing or humming the song in the streets. The man himself concedes  that he is not able to visit any shopping complex without attracting any attention.

He says that whenever he is walking in public places, people stare at him and he is showered with love messages on the social networking  site, Facebook.

While this is most certainly unwanted attention,  he somehow manages to ward it off in the politest  way possible.

'As an artist I have a duty to protect my image n and I cannot afford to portray myself in a manner  that people would resent,' he asserts.Juju Boy says that the following that he has started amassing has given him a 'sense of pride and achievement' and that has motivated him to take his career seriously.

He further says that he is going to release two more singles off his debut album before he puts it to rest. One of the singles is Thaema, which is dedicated to his father and he says that  the song talks about things that people would rather not discuss about heir fathers but as usual, there is an element of humour in the track. The other single is Pimping Made Easy For Dibari, which he also believes will cause a stir.

Juju Boy says that he is determined to  build a brand and his current  Gothic/punk image is part and parcel of that brand.'This is currently the way I dress and this image has to stay consistent but I cannot promise that I will maintain it for years since it can change as and when necessary,'' he says.

He further told Arts & Culture  that although the sales of his album started off slowly, now they are growing steadily after the success of Hurt Me.

Interestingly, the artist draws most of his inspiration from  American artists and he says that the late pop legend, Michael Jackson inspires him the most.  He also likes artists such as Jay Z, Lady Gaga, the Black Eyed Peas and Eminem. While he likes a number of hip hop artists, his music is mostly pop because he thinks the 'feel-good' genre is the right stuff for his fans.

Despite his growing fame, he asserts that he does not intend to have any 'beef' with fellow  local artists adding  that, 'I am not into things like that.'

Juju Boy asserts that he aspires to be a household name in the next five years, a dream that he could  achieve if he manages to keep his fans 'chained' as the lyrics of Hurt Me suggest:

And when you are done with me le wena re a go bohelelaKe a go letlelela ngwana phuthuloga helaYou are dealing with a freak o sala o mpone ka moriri,Dichaene, dispike, manyena a ditshipi.