Musos drop Corona track

Limpho Maqolo

The Hub team in partnership with local hip hop musos released a tune intended to raise Coronavirus plague awareness.

Dubbed #NthoeTjena, the track made its public debut on October 2 and is available on the Hub’s social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Featured on the joint are lyricists Black Dash Ls, Kafela, L-Tore, Revelation, Kot Inferno, Msoko Lara, Prime Zeik, Kardiac and Tokelo.

With a runtime of 8 minutes and 27 seconds, the melody was produced by Taks Beats, while audio mixing and mastering were handled by Thulo Monyake aka Istha Mista.

The track’s description indicated featured musos talk about the pandemic’s impact on the economy, youth, education, as well as political inaction, corruption and misuse of funds.      

Speaking on behalf of the Hub, Moleboheng Rampou said that #NthoeTjena is meant to serve as a reminder to people that they should be mindful of the contagion.

“The song reminds Basotho to heed to the recommended precautions and measures initiated to flatten the Coronavirus infection indicator graph so that they can protect themselves and others,” said Rampou.

In addition to the track’s purpose, Rampuo indicated “Featured artists in the track touch on already existing topics and challenges affecting Basotho which include mismanagement of funds, poverty, and unemployment rate, lack of opportunities and support of the arts in the country.

“Music is such a powerful tool. Artists’ roles in society should be spreading relevant messages and content, and they should not shy away from calling out the harsh realities that are faced by the youth and all citizens at large. It is a call to action for Basotho, young people in particular,” she indicated.

She pointed out their target audience was the youth and working adults, seeing as they are at a higher risk of contracting the virus.

She cited owing to the unavailability of some artists, they were faced with the challenge of working with more male lyricists than female.    

“We tried to have an equal number of male and female lyricists in the track, but some female artists we contacted were unavailable due to other commitments even though they were keen to take part in the initiative,” she said.

Rampou cited the collective’s optimism, “We are wishful that whoever listens to the song can understand our intentions and endorse some sort of change towards a better Lesotho.”