Rhumba star helps fans beat off the chill

LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent | Thursday June 24, 2010 00:00

And if his testimony about the album is anything to go by, his fans should brace themselves for the dancing floor.   The CD will be released with a DVD, which should be available in local music stores soon. For Mupulu this will be an accomplishment of some sort.  He  says it will be the first time that a local rhumba artist has simultaneously released a CD and DVD. 

The album will be released by Dargie Digital Studio.   Mupulu collaborated in the new album with local musicians like Philemon Rakhubu, Gongmaster and Slizer.    Mupulu feels that he has given the album his best shot and his fans will not be disappointed.  Tracks on the album include Letheka, Ke Tsamaya Le Wena, Dumela, Ke Yone, Banana and Malebo. 

Banana addresses itself to the behaviour of the youth while in Malebo, Mupulu is thanking Batswana for their support throughout the years.  In this album, Mupulu, who is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), sings in Setswana and Lilanga, a DRC language. 

Mupulu says he will not be launching the new album because of the ongoing World Cup finals in South Africa, and the chilly weather.  He will only launch the album in summer.  In the past, Mupulu has released three albums as a solo artist while he has featured in recordings of other local artists.  His previous albums include Viva Botswana, Go Tsamaya Ke Go Bona and Ba Ipotsa Ka Nna.  Mupulu is perhaps vividly remembered for his hey day with Afrika Sounds where he used to  wield the whistle that he often blew on stage. Mupulu's last album, Ba ipotsa ka nna was released in 2008.  He skips a year to release another album.   This is to give his followers time to savour his music.  He also takes time to record so he can get the formula right.  'This is why I come up with a good album every time,' he says.   Mupulu says people refer to him as the owner of rhumba music.  He says this is because he is playing a rhumba that is different from other artists'.  His music, he says, has a DRC influence.  'It sounds like DRC music,' says the rhumba maestro. 

Mupulu denies that rhumba is no longer popular. 'Our sales are always leading as compared to other genres,' he says.  They are only given a tough time by traditional music. However, he says traditional music artists have flooded the market.  He says since last year there have been a lot of traditional music albums.  Mupulu, who has now acquired Botswana citizenship, has been in the country since 1992.  His first local group was Super Power, but he later joined Afrika Sounds.  He left Afrika Sounds to set up his own group, which was known as Dr Biza.   But things seemed not to have been working well as he went back to Afrika Sounds.He was still to leave the group to establish his own band.  Since then, he has been running his own group, which has staged shows throughout the country.