He believes his music career is God’s plan to attract the youth to listen to his music and encourage them to live a positive life.
He is the new kid on the block, burning with talent and ready to share it with his fellow youth.
Thabo Rantao, now commonly known as Touch, has released a new hip-hop/motswako single called Balling. He says the track is getting the recognition it deserves and has been on the market for a while, reassuring Touch that the road ahead will not be a very bumpy one.
Touch explains that Balling is a track from his upcoming album labelled fresh2tswak. He says the chief reason for releasing the single was for recognition, to prepare Batswana for the next album.
The 27-year-old started rapping at the age of nine when he was exposed to hip hop, and drew inspiration from a variety of artists on TV such as Crowded Crew, Snoop Doggy Dogg, and Nas.
“I got introduced to the studio for the first time by my fellow school mate, Focus Paakane,” he says. “It is the studio where we recorded my first motswako verse in 2001 after having vast experience of performing in variety shows and doing freestyle and battles around the streets of Lobatse.”
Although he is new to the music industry, Touch cautions that he is not competing with anybody locally because he is simply having fun and taking it easy. Yet he believes his is a fresh motswako style that makes him stand out from the rest.
He mentions Jay-Z and P Diddy as his role models because they are not just artists but successful businessmen and that is where he is headed. His local role model is Johnny Kobedi, a local folk artist.
“He does his thing, is a hustler and does not care about anything else,” says Touch.
The artist has signed for a new record label, now on promotion, called Husseldorf Rekordz. He has collaborated with Zeus on a mixed tape which will also be out soon, and with South African artists in Mafikeng such as DJ Lamonks.
In addition, he has tracks on the upcoming fresh2tswak, Elemente, Kit-Kat and Strit Rulz, and has produced and published the track Apology.
Touch holds an Advanced Diploma in Sales and Marketing from Gaborone Institute of Professional Studies and works at Digital Communications. Apart from his artistic pursuits and career, he spends time promoting his new designer label fresh2tswak and also owns a marketing and communications company called LeTHABO media. Balling is available at Mafia Soul and Gear Master in Main Mall.
