Mohalenyane Phakela
SOUTH African Traditional Music Awards (SATMA) winner, Phoka, says famo music should be harnessed to showcase Lesotho’s culture and, in turn, promote tourism.
Phoka clinched the Best Sesotho category accolade at the 10th annual SATMAs held on 3 October 2015 at the University of Zululand in KwaZulu-Natal. The award was for the album Lipoho Tsa Bochabela on which Phoka collaborated with fellow famo artist Moketa.
Formed in 2005, the SATMA Awards are aimed at promoting, preserving and honouring traditional musicians from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.
In an interview with XpressPeople on Friday, Phoka said the awards validated his hard work since the recognition came from beyond Lesotho’s borders.
“I feel very honoured and humbled by the award because it shows that Basotho appreciate my music and that it is also appealing outside Lesotho,” he said adding that he had been nominated for the award on previous occasions.
“Basotho living in the country and outside have supported me a great deal throughout my career. I believe the award will result in the growth and international recognition of famo.”
The Mok’hanthufa hitmaker said he refrained from vulgar language and did not attack other artists in his music to appeal to a cross section of listeners regardless of age. Hailing from Butha-Buthe, Phoka forayed into the music scene in 2000 and has since released 17 studio albums and five music DVDs.
“I have remained loyal to Basotho by delivering music that can be listened by anyone, from children to old people. I entertain them with my trademark punchlines such as ‘Ke Ntate hake moshanyana’ (I am a man and not a boy) and ‘Ichu!’” said Phoka.
“I urge Basotho to continue supporting Famo artists because we are able to market the country’s culture since it is regarded as Lesotho’s heritage music everywhere we perform.”
He called on government and other stakeholders to assist local musicians who would then market Lesotho to the outside world.
“If we could get support from the government, especially the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Culture, our music would tell the stories of Basotho to other nations and also market the country’s tourism attractions,” Phoka noted.
“We spend a lot of money recording in South Africa since their studios produce better quality. However, people still pirate our music which is destroying our industry.
“We are also denied work permits in South Africa even though there is a large market for our music. Government and other organisations should come to our aid for the benefit of the nation.”