Captain Dira resurfaces with Bontja

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Captain Dira (Dickson Diratsagae Mahupela) had a sudden rise to fame in 2008 that quickly made him one of Botswana's favourite local performers.Since then, he has endured over half a decade of mixed fortunes, regrets and U-turns.

The man, popularly known for his hit track Mashobane, has tried different styles in an attempt to find his musical destiny.  Now, the short in stature musician is back with an album titled Konokono whose trump card should be the exciting Bontja song. His highly successful Matalanyane debut was followed up with a luke warm Mbaqanga album, Raago Software, which was rather a music piece born out of frustration.

"I saw my debut album sell well but not benefiting me financially, and I felt that maybe traditional music was not for me. Besides, from the start traditional music was not my thing.  I was only introduced to it and strangely I did well," he said.Although many only noticed him when he went solo, Dira was introduced to music at a very early age when he was recruited to be part of the Mokorwana Cultural Group, one of the pioneer recording traditional music bands.  Following the poor sales of Raago Software, Dira made a U-turn and after a break from the studio, recorded his latest offering.  The results are there to prove that it was a break worth taking.  According to the musician, he has now discovered that traditional music is his real destiny.

Editor's Comment
Closure as pain lingers

March 28 will go down as a day that Batswana will never forget because of the accident that occurred near Mmamatlakala in Limpopo, South Africa. The tragedy affected not only the grieving families but the nation at large. Batswana throughout the process stood behind the grieving families and the governments of Botswana and South Africa need much more than a pat on the back.Last Saturday was a day when family members said their last goodbyes to...

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