Staff Writer
DJ COUNTERFORCE’S story reads like a typical African narrative where the child has to fit into a model set by the parents and often has to be rebellious to follow their dreams.
When the entertainer left the country back in 1995, he enrolled into law school to study Mercantile (Commercial) law but went against his parents’ expectations by ditching the studies opting for music school.
Back then, music was merely entertainment in the eyes of many parents and no serious child would enroll into a school of music turning their back onto a more lucrative law career.
However, DJ Counter only spent eight months in the law school at the then Technicon Northern Transvaal (now Technicon Northern Gauteng) and opted to study music at the Contemporary Music School of South Africa in Pretoria.
Although the shift angered his parents, especially his mother, he said he is happy that he is now living is dream.
DJ Counter is part of the line-up for the upcoming Lesotho Times Fanfest scheduled for 3 November 2018 at Setsoto Stadium.
The show will see him perform alongside greats like Oliver Mtukudzi, Tshepo Tshola, AKA, Lady Zamar, Kwesta, Thami, Amanda Black, Trompies and many others.
The deck master told the Xpress People recently that he was thrilled to perform at such a high-profile gig after a long time.
“I am very excited about the show and people should expect fireworks,” DJ Counter said.
“I have played at similar gigs in the past but of late it has just been smaller gigs. I am preparing for the event. The line-up is huge and I do not want to disappoint.
“The government must support such initiatives so that they become permanent on our entertainment calendar. Imagine the kind of employment it can create. We always go to other countries for such events and that is all revenue that can circulate in the country.”
The PC FM deputy station manager and presenter said local musicians need to take their work seriously to ensure success. He said the lack of gatekeepers in the music sector has led to many releasing half-baked projects.
“Local artistes are not doing enough. Sometimes they do not get the platform but in the first instance they have to produce quality music for radio and show organisers to support them.
“Musicians have to understand the importance of research on what the market is looking for and inject resources into their work to ensure that the quality is up to standard.
“We have a challenge that everyone who sings in the shower now goes to the studio to record failing to realise that it takes talent and a lot of effort,” DJ Counter said.
Born Liteboho Nkuebe, the disc jockey will be branded by Maluti Mountain Brewery’s Budweiser brand. MMB are one of the key partners for the Lesotho Times Fanfest.
He said although they are still negotiations with the brewery, he was grateful because “normally DJs just have to go it alone”.
The last of five children born on 8 October 1974, DJ Counter grew up in Mohale’s Hoek and attended St Stephens Primary and High School up to 1997. He left for South Africa the next year and returned to the country armed with a degree in Contemporary Music in 1998.
“I was fortunate to get sponsorship from the National Manpower Development Secretariat (NMDS).”
The DJ urged parents to support their children’s choices instead of forcing them into careers which they are not passionate about.
“I am better off with a career in music instead of being a lawyer. Parents must always support their children. I do not regret anything about my chosen career because I am living my dream.”
While in college in the 90s, DJ Counter learnt to play the piano but says he later fell in love with the bass guitar and the keyboard. Now he sometimes plays bass for Juvy.
“I have projects in the pipeline with Juvy and Selimo Thabane,” DJ Counter said.