The Voice (Botswana)

SHAME ON YOU!

- BY SHARON MATHALA

KWENENG Regional Football side, Thamaga Shooting Stars, held players’ awards and the winners received only trophies and no monetary incentive.

Shaya is concerned that the best achievers were not given monetary incentives while the club spent money to bring an internatio­nal guest, retired Zimbabwean profession­al footballer, Willard Katsande, to grace the event.

We are not saying clubs should not host the glitz and glam events attended by big names but rewarding players is key. This is embarrassi­ng. Please respect your employees and put their interests first before those of outsiders.

Shaya hopes next time the club management will do the right thing.

SEBAGA is one of the few female saxophonis­ts in the country and is fast blossoming into the most sought-after saxophonis­t the country has to offer.

At just 24 years of age, Sebaga Rabantheng has honed her craft and made it fashionabl­e. This week, as she prepares to release her debut single, Celeb Edition caught up with the budding star.

For the few who don’t know you, how would you introduce yourself?

Well, I would say my name is Sebaga Rabantheng, a talented artist who is fast making her mark in the industry through her skill of playing the saxophone. I would tell them that I have a deep-rooted passion for music and my confident rhythmic driven skills delivered with fluency has seen me play alongside the likes of DJ Fresh, just to mention but a few. When I am not in the studio or performing, I am a teacher aid.

Take us back to a time when you first fell in love with music?

My love for music came at a very tender age because I remember growing up I used to take Windows Media Player and VLC and try and mix the two songs playing on each of apps but I also had influence from my dad who was a DJ. However, my love for Jazz music, especially, came about because my grandmothe­r used to listen to a lot of Hugh Masekela and Bhudaza. My goodness, their music was so much around the house that I can literally sing pound for pound each and every song of theirs, but in terms of actually picking up the saxophone, that came about in 2016 and it is has been a lovely journey.

And who would you say is your role model?

I have a lot of people I would consider my role models because I gain different things from different people. But playing-wise, I listen to a lot of Dave Koz. I recently started listening to very soulful music like your Whitney Houstons and the like. To be fair, there is a lot that inspires a musician and so I can’t really point a finger to one person, I get inspiratio­ns from different people around me wether they are musicians or not.

Why the saxophone, though, of all instrument­s?

It really had to be the saxophone because I felt it was a unique instrument. Like I said, my grandmothe­r listened to a lot of Hugh Masekela and Bhudaza, so I guess it was only inevitable.

You just arrived from an internatio­nal trip, tell us about the trip.

Oh yes! I have just returned from our Switzerlan­d trip. We had gone as the Botswana society for jazz education. We had been invited to Langnau to attend to workshops and obviously had performanc­es. We interacted with different musicians from almost all over the world, basically it was just to up our skills.

And now you will soon be releasing your debut single, tell us about that and why the long wait?

My single has been in the studio for four years now. It is actually crazy; it took me that long because the anxiety that comes with releasing music is massive. You wonder if it is perfect, if it is what I want out there, is this what I want people to remember me as? That is why it took me so long . I needed to give people a product that comes from the heart. The song is called ‘Fola Pelo’. Basically taken from the Bible verse, “guard your heart,” and it is just really a healing song for anyone who has a broken heart or anyone who has felt pain and or sadness, yet it is also a reminder to people that we go through things but we must always remember to guard our hearts. Anything that has happened to your heart, just heal and move on.

Tell us five things people don’t know about you?

1. I love my food 2. I am afraid of heights, seriously 3. I am a also a music composer 4. I believe in second chances, I believe everyone deserves second chances in life

5. I love my God

 ?? Katsande ?? AT THE AWARDS:
Katsande AT THE AWARDS:
 ?? ?? BUDDING STAR: Sebaga
BUDDING STAR: Sebaga

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