Olebile Motebang, also known as “Lebi wa Batswana” to his legion of fans, is a young Kwaito Kwasa music artist who is slowly making his mark in the music industry.
The 27-year-old lad, who hails from Borolong Village, 20 km from Francistown, has released a sizzling eight-track album, dubbed “Shapa katara” for Kwaito kwasa lovers.
The album was released early this year at Octave Records in Gaborone.
In an interview with The Telegraph last week, the singer said that his passion for music dates back to when he was nine years old while he was still doing his primary school education.
“I grew up in a music family and I began singing in church at a tender age of nine year when I was still at Primary School,” he said, adding that in 2010, he joined Exact Musica, a local Kwaito Kwasa music group in Borolong Village as a dancer and his love for Kwaito kwasa music blossomed.
After joining the group, he said it came a time when he decided to go solo and pursue his own music projects.
“I realized that I had talent and my family encouraged me to start my own music band. I released my debut album called “Vision 2016” in 2010, which did not perform well in the market due to marketing constraints. I never gave up, hence the release of this album,” he said.
Lebi wa Batswana also added that he has staged a number of live performances in different areas around Botswana and he has also performed at weddings and several public events. He said that his best tracks in the new album are “Shapa Katara”, which he says is a song┬á “that he expresses love for the guitar instrument, and “Amantle Montsho and Nigel Amos”, a song in which he praises local sports icons.
“I have got an undying passion for the guitar instrument and the Amantle Montsho and Nigel Amos song is a track that I sing to praise our local sports heroes. Sports is very crucial in the livelihoods of the youths in Botswana,” he said.
The other tracks in his new album are Banyana ba a bina (a dance song), Ba rata nna fela (a song about love), Toleka (a Swahili song about dancing), Salamaleko (another song in Swahili in which he sings about his passion for music), Monate fela (a dance song) and Vuka u zi yenzele (a Zulu song which encourages people to take responsibility for their lives).
The singer encouraged aspiring young musicians to follow their dreams and pursue their talents.
“Each and every one of us has a talent and I would love to encourage the youth to pursue their talents. By pursuing our talents, we can be able to make a living and it would help us to desist from destructive lifestyles such as alcoholism and drug abuse,” he said.
