It is easy to blame them, to undermine their intelligence and accuse them of being cultural enemies and pollutants of young minds and those of the less discerning. It appears every culture has had an uncomfortable relationship with its artists, in particular, musicians.
They are obscene; lascivious and given to rollicking merriment and dances that lack restraint and polish. Their dress lacks decorum and class. They reveal their bellies, hairy chests and thighs and other anatomical details of a reproachable nature.
They give themselves names; strange names indeed: Phempheretlhe, Vee, Dr. Vomit, 50 Cent, Jay Zee and such labels that set them apart from the rest of the sensible members of the society.
However, regardless of their peculiarity, every society must be grateful to its musicians for it is musicians, more than any other social groups, who are responsible for transferring language beyond the borders of a linguistic community. The English band, The Beatles were huge in the States, China, Japan, Russia, Africa and the Middle East.
The same can be said of the gifted American guitarist, Jimmy Hendrix, the WHO, Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi, Mariah Carey, Bob Marley, Queen, Jay Z, the eccentric Sir Elton John, Beyonce Knowles and many others.
Regardless of their personal peccadilloes, these artists are responsible for the spread and maintenance of the status of English as a world dominant language. Inevitably, their art has gained much boost from television and internet. This has made them more accessible even to many who are illiterate in the English language.
They entertain the American troops and bring smiles to Chinese peasants harvesting rice in the mushy Chinese farms. Their kind of English has become the standard. Their English is heard more around the world than the posh English spoken in Westminster and Oxford.
I recently engaged in small talk with a UB freshman and asked the typical: How are you? And to my bemusement the response was “Ait” which I was to learn to my horror that it is a truncated “alright” commonly heard from African American rap artists, most of whom had primitive education compared to the freshman to whom I was talking.
To the young, these linguistically challenged artists are cultural icons. They are images of progress and fashion. The only consolation that conservative linguists have is that such artists who live on the fast lane of life, reach their destinations earlier than many or are incarcerated fairly early in their career, ridding the society of such linguistic pollutants!
Locally, those engaged in the promotion of the Setswana language must be thankful of much of the work of Setswana musicians. On the Hip Hop front, more than any other person, Jabulani Tsambo, also known to his adoring fans as HHP, has demonstrated repeatedly that the Setswana language is at par with other languages of the world which have been used for this music genre.
Two years ago, one VS broke into the Gaborone scene with a certain O icheke tune which captured the ubiquitous infidelity of many Gabs men as well as the looseness of some city girls. What made the song popular more than anything else was the rich Setswana language used in its lyrics. While its story line may have been captivating, it was not novel in any sense. What was more arresting was its language use.
For the first time we heard Setswana idioms laced with Setswana colloquialisms and backed by solid bass and piercing strings. But the Hip Hop artists are not trail blazers in Setswana music. It is the enduring work of Ratsie Setlhako with its opaque obscenities which has inspired many Setswana musicians.
For some of us who grew up in the eighties, we remember Kgwanyape Band and their captivating Setswana rhythms.
It was probably the compositions of Duncan Senyatso more than anyone else which gave Setswana recorded sounds some degree of prominence in Botswana and outside the country. His albums such as Mephato ya Maloba and Kgeleke tsa Pina uniquely set him apart. There were others of course ÔÇô such as Lekofi Sejeso and Rampholo Molefe, but this column is not about the history of Setswana music.
Its central thesis is that music is responsible for spreading a language and giving it prominence. Recently, the music of Dikakapa, Matsieng, Diphala, Tshepo Lesole, Lister Boleseng, Maxy, HT, Dikoma, Dr Vom, Diparo, Stampore, Thuso Tiego, KTM and many others are a testament that Setswana music has matured and that it is exportable.
Setswana music has a large following in South Africa, not just amongst the Setswana speakers of the North West Province, but also amongst other linguistic groups in the country.
There is therefore much to be gained from empowering musicians and using them as a cultural tool to advance the influence of the Setswana language. As the African Union has chosen the Setswana language together with Chinyanga as priority languages to be developed, the Union must move swiftly to empower and sponsor cultural and linguistic activities which will fortify the Setswana language’s functional roles and cultural prominence.
