Botswana

The small, arid country of Botswana has not been a shining beacon of musical light. Its popular music scene has been dominated by its southern neighbor, South Africa. Yet in the late 80s a couple of bands produced records in Botswana.

This record is by Afro Sunshine. The Mogoditshane based group was formed in 1983 by Lekofi Sejeso – keyboard along with some frieds: Ricky Molefe – guitar; Gino Maposa – saxophone; Oupa Phofu –bass; & Ronnie Nkhululu - drums.  Later on the group added  vocalist Jeff Malaba & Chris Mbewe vocals & guitar.

Afro Sunshine was very popular in Gaborone, but their music never crossed many borders. Weaving strands of influences from South Africa, Ndebele Zimbabwe, soul, & even Prince-like funk, this is quite a mixed bag. This is Afrika was one of the first albums by a local group to go on sale in Botswana. It was very difficult for local artists to record due to lack of financial resources & recording facilities. Recording facilities for Botswana musicians were basically only available in South Africa or Zimbabwe.  

Afro Sunshine became one of the country's top Afro pop groups in the 80s, not only because of the scarcity of competition, but also because of their great sound & live stage-shows. Lekofi Sejeso put on a really outstanding performance on his keyboards. The crowds loved it. They released this popular recording in 1989 before the group disbanded following some misunderstandings.

The six song cassette included the track “Ma Basket” which was the hit track of the release.  The hugely talented Sejeso composed five of the six songs on the album. Gino Maposa wrote “Mmaebeke”. 

 Afro Sunshine – This is Afrika, CCMPROD 1000, 1989.  

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Side 1 –

Afro Sunshine

Tote

Sisi Langeni

Side 2 –

Mmaebeke

Ma Basket

Rebalebile

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Crackdust formed in 2006 in Gaborone, Botswana. The band originally was a three-piece with Roth – vocals & guitar, S’Bond – bass & Dlax – drums. In 2008 Lee joined the band & took over as bassist & S’Bond moved to second guitar. 

Didn’t know what to expect from a death metal band from Botswana. I guess I was actually expecting it to be kinda generic, but it’s quite unique. The production is good, no Pro Tools digital wash that is usually prevalent in 21^st Century metal releases. The sound is clear without being overly digital, so there is no muddiness. The guitars are down-tuned so the guitar tone is thick & bassy, heavily distorted. All in all it’s got a chunky & heavy 90s death metal sound. The music is not overly technical, but rather straight to the point bone-crushing death metal. It is slow-paced, but rocks hard. 16 songs in under 40 minutes. That’s one weakness this album has. Many of the songs are too short, seem to end abruptly & unnaturally. I would be expecting the song to go on, then, boom, done. The music is not overly technical, but rather straight to the point bone-crushing death metal.

I added a bonus track.

 Crackdust - DentedReality, Core Riodic Records, 2007.

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Tracklist –

Ruptured

Birth of Hatred

Dececrate

Breeding the Undead

Grind the Flesh

Mass for the Dead

Consumed

Born of the Sorcerer

Price of Truth

Deranged Psychopath

Fate

Son of Rosobola

Mortal Decay

Tainted Saints

Retribution

Bonus track –

Return of the Gods

Enjoy,

NØ