One of the oldest traditional music giants, Dikakapa traditional group, is back after dropping an album dedicated to their late former lead singer, Gong Master. Addressing the media this week, Dikakapa lead singer Esaleone Hendrick said they found it fit to celebrate the former talented singer with an album dubbed ‘Tribute to Gong Master’.
The traditional song and dance legend Mponang ‘Gong Master’ Ketshabile co-founded the group in 2006 before he went solo. “We want Gong Master to know that we appreciate him wherever he is resting. We also want to erect a tombstone for Gong Master.
We will be launching it (album) at different villages across the country starting at Ranaka where our late star grew up. We started Dikakapa in 2006 with Gong Master where we released our first album dubbed ‘Selempu, re ya kae Batswana,” Hendrick said.
“After two years, in 2008 he told us that he wanted to go solo and we gave him our blessings. We released our second album titled ‘Bo Malome’ in 2008 and by then we had started working with Tshumu whom we worked with on Bo Malome, Mooka and Re Boile,” she explained.
Hendrick also explained that they were nominated for the Kora Awards which took place in Burkina Faso after dropping the Bo Malome album through the song Mmalobeto. Even though they did not win the award, Hendrick said they did not come back home empty handed. She added that they released another album titled Mooka, which they featured Tshumu and Gong Master. She pointed out that it was a painful period during the recording of this new album because he is no more.
She explained that the launch would be celebrating his contribution towards traditional music. For his part, event and music producer, Chillie Segona said when he first saw Dikakapa in 2006, they were giants wearing black suits and he immediately knew that they were unique.
He said many music producers always fought to have the group in their shows. Segona added that Dikakapa’s music was unique as it conveyed important messages that changed a lot of people’s lives. He asserted that the group paved the way for different artists locally such as Shumba Ratshega whom they toured the corners of the country with during his rookie days.
Meanwhile, Sylvester Lesola said Dikakapa’s discipline and strong organisational structure together with their support for fellow artistes would not go unrecognised. He attested to what Segona said about traditional group elevating fellow artists more especially upcoming ones.
He therefore pleased with the public, business entities and public organisations to support Dikakapa reach their goal. “Musicians no longer make money through selling CDs because nowadays immediately after the song is released they share songs through different social media platforms. Releasing an album is expensive and they have other expenses such as rent and other bills to pay. Let’s help where we possibly can,” he said. The group had added few faces and they sampled their eight songs that have proved to be worth the entire wait their fans have been looking forward to their next album.
