Talented Zeus' musical odyssey thus far

Gasebalwe Seretse
Correspondent | Friday February 4, 2011 00:00

Again there was a time when Thato 'Scar' Matlhabaphiri reigned supreme in the genre, but nowadays to reclaim his crown, he has to wrestle it from the hugely talented Zeus.

Born 25-year-ago, Zeus spent his first five years in Mahalapye where his mother was a teacher at Parwe Community Junior Secondary School (CJSS).

Just before he started his primary education, his mother was transferred to Molepolole and that is where he started his primary education at the then Livingstone Primary School that was founded by, among others, the late Scottish Dr Alfred Merriweather and his wife.  It was while he was doing Standard Three that his mother was tranfered to Gaborone where he spent his formative years.

In Gaborone, he did most of his primary education at Lesedi Primary School before going to Rainbow where he did his Standard Seven until he finished his high school.

'It was while at Rainbow that it came to my attention in bits and pieces that I was lyrically gifted when I emulated the likes of Warren G, Snoopy Dog and Tupac,' Zeus said in an interview with Arts & Culture.

Back then, the young Zeus realised that it was vitally important that he learnt the art of rhyming and borrowing verses from the lyrics of his heroes.  Zeus asserts since he was the son of a teacher, he understood the value of education at an early age when he learnt parts of speech such as metaphors, similes, punch-lines, personifications and rhyming.

'I always understood the value of education when I was not busy being the class clown,' he says jokingly.  However, the young poet feels that his participation in Yarona's Sprite Rap Activity Jam in 2003 was his 'baptism of fire' since it was around that time that he realised the gift imbedded in him.He managed to beat all his peers during the competition, which was popular among those who loved the hip-hop culture.

He lost the battle at the grand finale to a Capetonian artist based in Botswana and according to Zeus, 'This was the first battle I ever lost.'

The following year, he managed to make it to the finale, but lost out because, according to him, 'I arrived late and therefore I got disqualified'.

Exploiting his newfound fame he collaborated with established artists such as David 'Skizo' Molosi, Thabo 'T.H.A.B.O' Bolokwe, Marabi and Mbodlela.

'Those were great moments because for the first time I got to work with some of the biggest names in the industry and experience studio time,' he says. Some of the artists that he got to meet included the likes of Keb and Samba-T, with whom he formed a group or a crew as he calls it.

The crew members realised that to make it in the challenging industry, they had to 'hustle' for the money with which they could buy studio time.

Zeus was forced to work as a filing clerk at Botswana Telecommunication Corporation (BTC) while the others also found jobs and, according to the artist, this is the trend among wannabes in the genre.With the money that the young artists raised, they managed to record a full album and off the debut album was Molebe Gape, which would prove to be a radio hit.In 2006, renowned artist-cum-producer, Skizo was working hard to establish a record company and Zeus released a full album Corners, Clubs and Churches with him which contained some prominent songs like Boza Tsa City and Imagination. 

The following year a video of one of the songs was nominated for the Best Radio Reggae/ Dancehall category in the Channel O Music Video Awards.

'Although I did not win the award, the recognition that I got made me feel like I was entering new space,' he asserts.In 2007, he got the feeling of wanting to control his career so he founded DIY with the help of Tshepo 'Rox' Sikwane and this meant that he was the label-owner-cum-executive producer-cum-artist in his record label.  In the same year, he graduated from Monash University where had embarked on a BCom degree majoring in Marketing and Management.  A year later, he released Freshly Baked and that was the album that catapulted him to stardom.

Zeus chose to get away from any influence of the success of the song Imagination because, 'a good artist does (get away) in one zone'.

According to the artist, Freshly Baked, which contains 14 tracks, attracted mature listenership and some of the tracks in it were played on Gabz FM.  The song Gijima became an instant hit such that it was regularly played on many South African radio stations.

Needless to say, its success gave him the exposure that he needed and he was able to do collaborations with South African giants such as HHP and Prokid whom he beat in the Channel O Music Video awards in 2009.

Zeus was also nominated in the MTN-Hype magazine hip-hop awards in neighbouring South Africa and BOMU awards in Botswana.

His next album, The Flipside followed in 2009 and, according to the artist, it offered something new because he used different approaches and it got 'crazy' radio play. Zeus says that the album was well-received by critics and that gave it a certain amount of credibility.  In the 16-track album, he featured the likes of RJ Benjamin, Don Juan, Stoan and Jon Jazi who are all big names in South Africa.  Some of the catchy tracks off the album include Out Of My Mind, Diski Business and the hit Champagne Music.

Ever since the release of The Flipside, he has been recognised by some music analysts as one of the best MCs in the continent.

After working for a while, Zeus decided to be a fulltime artist and entrepreneur and he says that gives him ample time to manage his affairs.

Currently, the star who was part of the Ya Rona FM's Fat Boy Challenge is working on his image as he has decided to lose weight in order to look good and lead a healthy lifestyle - and so far his efforts are starting to pay dividends.Some of the talented Zeus influences include Mos Def, Talib Kweli and Bob Marley.