Obakeng drops his third album
BY IRENE SHONE
Baone Moalosi recently released a new book titled, ‘Pain is the worst thing.’ The 20-year-old told Vibe that the book is a fictional novel centred on mental health, and learning to embrace the pain of one’s past experiences in order to heal and move on. She said the book explains to readers that they should accept pain they encounter in life, order to be able to heal from negative experiences.
Moalosi explained that the book is about twin siblings who had a rather bloody introduction to adulthood. “They had to be strong and learn how to continue living despite all the series of mishaps that came along,” she said. She said that in the first few chapters, readers will see steady and complete family living together happily, until a tragic incident occurs shattering their lives. “Everything was just beautiful until things changed… And that is the thing about life, it can change instantly,” she said. Moalosi further said that the novel highlights that after the passing of their father, the two came to know that the woman who they thought was their biological mother all along, was not their real mother, as they also learn that she had a hand in the death of their father.
Award-winning gospel singer Obakeng Sengwaketse has just dropped a new album comprising of ten inspirational and healing songs, dubbed ‘New Dawn’.
This marks his third studio recorded album and he is happy to share with Vibe that it is unique from the previous albums. He notes that with ‘New Dawn’, he has featured great artists from South Africa; Nqobile Mbandlwa and Sgwili Zuma, in some of the songs. “I regard this as a special project because I have worked with so much talented international Gospel artists. The album is flavoured with different languages and favour of new modern sounds,” he said.
The album was recorded at CL Productions in Durban, and recorded by Lindani Gumede, who also produced the album.
Sengwatse values music creativity, to a point that whenever he releases an album, he requests other creatives to write songs for him. “I also normally get traditional genres to cater for the elderly, with a fusion of gospel to meet their taste in music,” Sengwatse highlights. He couldn’t go on without mentioning that the feedback that he receives from his fans is overwhelming, and that they have groomed him to be who he is today, with their motivation. He goes on to reiterate that what makes his music unique, is the fact that singing is his God given talent. “I use my authentic voice and never try to imitate anyone, and apart from the choruses that are commonly known, I try to bring something new all the time, with that message to comfort and heal someone out there,” he said.
Obakeng also shares that he takes pride in the fact that, so far with both his albums, he has gotten an award. “My achievements as an artist are mainly my nominations and awards. I have noticed that with every album that I release, I get an award and this keeps me positive within the industry,” he said adding that he is hopeful that the new album would also pocket an award for him. However, he laments that most people within the industry are not exposed to people out there because local promoters and organizers, have their own people. Therefore, he requests that they should treat artists equally and especially notice the upcoming artistes as they might bring something new and beneficial to the industry. “My advice to the upcoming artists is that, they should never give up, nor get discouraged to bring new music on the table. We all have somewhere to start, so I want to basically assure them that they are talented, and should keep on working hard and utilise social media platforms to expose their work to the people,” he said.
New Dawn will be launched soon, and Obakeng said they would also introduce merchandise during the launch. They also look forward to shoot a few music videos from this album before the end of the year.