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Hip Hop in Botswana Lords of The Ghetto Written by Modirwa Kekwaletswe for Mmegi/Africanews, June 25, 1999 Gaborone - They consider themselves hell-raisers in the local genre of hip-hop. Their claim to local fame is bench-marked by their maturity. The trio, Kutlo Marman, Christopher Raditlwaneng and Dikiso Selepeng call themselves the 'Lords of The Ghetto'. The name betrays the fact that they owe their roots to Francistown. Their musical union began nine years ago and they have since been performing mainly in Francistown and Zimbabwe - horning their rapping skills all along. Work and school commitments have since caused the Lords of the Ghetto to move camp to Gaborone. This is widely seen as a positive development because the group will now join up with the boys down south of the country who have dictated the pace of dance music - including the very essence of the Lords of the Ghetto sound stuff: ragga and hip-hop. That Tribal Monks and 3rd Mind have blazed the trail does not worry the Lords of the Ghetto. Even more interesting is that the Geto Flava, who were once based in Orapa, beat them below the music belt by releasing a sizzling rhythm and blues album, 'Mr. Chocolate'. The Lords of the Ghetto have assumed the role of a chameleon. Pausing and probing before moving. As one group member, Marmam said, they believe that their act possesses the most important ingredient - talent. It is the musical talent that the group wants to share with the people. Lords of the Ghetto's debut single, ' Bye-bye', has seen their popularity rise in the last two years. Ample airplay of the song has been a vital factor. The group's performance in last year's 'Black Label Tour' has been another. Pledging to give something back to the people, ' Bye-bye' is more of ragga than hip-hop infused music. The main link between them is the layering of three distinctive rapping repertoires. A bridge between raggae and hip-hop, the single is enchored by a strong and solid baseline throughout. That was just a single, the sort of one hit that many music groups can muster. Consistency is another thing altogether. Going one plane better, in the form of a complete album has proved a much harder task. Released about two weeks ago, ' Bye Bye' (Ina dem ghetto), follows the way albums are compiled these days, one or two hit singles, with a handsome dose of re-mixes. Along this line, it is ' Bye Bye' and 'Shining' which the group originally programmed at Step Lite Music in Mogoditshane. They based them on danceable catch sounds and harmonious rapping. The music of the album has been brewed over the years, before heading for the Botswaan's latest recording hub, the Nosey Road Studios' in Lobatse. The studio is the home of Nosey Road, the kings of rock music in Botswana. The efforts of Lords of the Ghetto, culminated in the release of the album two weeks ago. It remains to be seen if Lords of the Ghetto can last the distance. Dark clouds always hover over Botswana's music groups because there are just too many obstacles. And considering that their contemporaries, 3rd Minds and Geto Flavour already have two albums to their name, the jury is out. Buying and listening to the music is the best way to judge.

:: BOTSWANA HIP HOP ::  No doubt! (introduction)