KWASA KWASA’S UPHILL STRUGGLE

Kwasa kwasa is at its lowest in this country.

With the popularity of ‘Motswako’, Borankana, House and Jazz steadily rising the genre has been struggling with sales and artists experiencing low turnouts at shows. KenyBoy McKenzie’s ‘Mathata a Africa’ album will definitely find the going tough in the market.

There is nothing wrong with the album; the music is great, and the sound just right, just like Dargie’s usual signature. However similarly good kwasa kwasa albums have failed to make it.  The six track album has good songs like “Lebogang barutabana” which touches on the value of an African teacher in today’s society. Other songs include Mmalorato, Botswana Bojanala, Lefufa boloi and Botshelo morabaraba. It gets 6 out of 10.

MOCHUDI ANNUAL TOURNEY

It is back yet again.

The Mochudi 2nd Annual Tournament and Family Fun Day is scheduled for Saturday 28th at the Rovers Grounds. One of the most talked about event in the Kgatleng Capital City will see four teams, Happy People, Sopranos, All Kazi and C.A Sales battling it out for the grand price. Music will be galore with Dj’s Daddy Cool, Thamie, Hepex, Teaz and Edy on the decks.

There will be jumping castles and other fun activities for kids to make this a perfect family outing. For P20 patrons will get all the entertainment in the world, see you at the grounds.

GREAT ENTERTAINMENT

The President’s arts competition have come and gone and what a spectacle they were.

It is one of those few events where citizens of this country are given a rare opportunity to view the artistic excellence of fellow Batswana from the comfort of their sofas.

With Botswana Television being viewed in many African countries the mileage these artists got is immense and the Ministry of Youth and Culture should be commended for that. I’m pretty certain there were millions of people watching. This brings me to this burning issue.

If the government of Botswana finds it worthwhile to spend millions of pula to put together such a show, and give local artistes a platform to shine, why can’t our local radio stations do the same? One artist put it bluntly: “Radio stations are holding the keys to our stomachs”.

SUPPORTING SPORTS TOURISM

Cycling is not your ordinary regular entertainment news, but it’s entertaining nonetheless.

The two day Botswana Kalahari Challenge starting this Saturday will see two young female cyclists from the Gaborone Cycling Club development programme rub shoulders with some of the best from the world.

Bokomo has splashed out P20 000 inclusive of the two ladies entrance fees into the competition that brings together more than 300 athletes from Namibia, South Africa and Botswana. The race will start at Gaborone Rugby Club at 8am. The cyclists will have to endure close to 100 km of track before reaching their destination in Lekgolobotlo, where they will pitch camp.

JAY JAY WHO?

There are only three famous Jays, Ray Jay, Jay Jay Okocha and the letter J.

Well, not really, there is another Jay on the rise and he is local. The artist recently dropped his eight track album Molwantwa and last week one of my friends was pumping it full-blast from his over-emphasized music system. I asked who the artist was and he said it’s Jay.

I later took time to listen to it and recognized something about the guy’s singing. He’s got talent.  My favourite song is track four titled Khiba, some cool Afro-pop with an R n’ B/soul touch. The soul is in the voice, not this Voice though. Other songs include Revenge, Together, Times, Monyaka, O ka and Go thata. It is a good listen and Big Weekend is convinced it has potential to attract many listeners with a good ear. But like they say your music is only as relevant as the public’s opinion. It gets 6 out of 10.

McKennzie