By: Thandiwe Kubere
MASERU – Owing to the rich culture and history of our forefathers who were born and bred in the Mountain Kingdom- having a proud sense of origin, individuals from different walks of life and a variety of talents came together and formed “Tsa Moshoeshoe”. It is a group of diversity and portrayal of team work makes the dream work.
Tsa Moshoeshoe is a crew of talented individuals skilled with music production, dancing, modeling, taking visuals, graphic designing and more, who came together to assist each other reach their dreams, signifying the beauty that lies with working together. Taking a walk down memory lane, that has always been the nation’s way of tackling life. The crew idea and dream was sparked when one of the members, Kali Mokoena-popularly known as Mora Mokoena realized the amount of talent and potential others had during studio sessions and how powerful it would be had they joined forces and became one brand.
Mora Mokoena explained that the group name was inspired by the concept of how the Basotho nation was brought together- people from different walks and tribes uniting to form one beautiful nation. And as descendants Moshoeshoe-an advocate of peace, they feel they live as representation and follow in those footsteps.
Establishing the group was not much of a challenge but was not easy either, taking into consideration Mora Mokoena’s acquired skills and the experience he obtained since 2014 when he was part of the country’s popular crew “Magic in Progress” (MIP) which was known to release hits. He explained when the MIP dissolved and people went their different paths, he was left with studio equipment which right there gave him an idea to bring in new talent.
Tsa Moshoeshoe was officially formed in early 2022 and a song released the same year. First was a song titled Amelia, which was originally Mora Mokoena’s solo but the group remixed it. They later released “Mama” featuring Jiji F and Skebza D. Then “Ba Ncheatile” followed by “Uthando”, “Senonnopi and Thota”, which are all available on their social media platform including YouTube. “Mahadi” which gave the group much recognition and heightened the public’s attention was a remix of Omali Themba’s hit song. On it the group worked with him and featured Selimo Thabane and Bhudaza Mapefane.
Adding flavor to the group is Precious Thuto, who is a singer, dancer and rapper within the Tsa Moshoeshoe family. She describes herself as a versatile artist with intensions of promoting Sesotho culture through her art. “My career had not started yet before Tsa Moshoeshoe, or I would say I was at the very beginning.” She explained there was an artist she knew- Ati Zee, who particularly saw her potential and got interested in her craft. “Ati Zee basically introduced me to music on a professional level because at first I would just write and casually sing. He would say I have a really good voice and call me out to the studio to do his chorus.” They recorded two songs which she laughs about now and says they are a bit rough on the edges. But who does not have a humble beginning?
The first two songs were not as impactful as the third one, which heightened Mora Mokoena publicly. “I don’t know how long he had the idea for but after listening to the song he told Ati Zee that they should collaborate and form a variety crew of people with different talents and skill sets to help one another- as descants of Moshoeshoe, to master their crafts, achieve their goals and actually earn from their talents. ”I basically met Mora Mokoena through Ati Zee and I’m still grateful to this day to have had him in my life.” Shortly after, they went in search and scouted different talent.
“As an individual, before I was part of Tsa Moshoeshoe, I literally knew nothing and did not think I had the potential to share the stage with the very celebrities I looked up to. Being part of the group helped me learn so much. I used to think everything was super hard and going to studio was expensive and I was so broke at the time”, she elaborated. She used to think she was a no-body with dreams impossible to reach while watching people live her dream on TV.
Growing up, dancing was more of her thing than singing and traces her best memories from when she was still in grade one and danced for a certain celebration. She further became a Latin dancer during the first years of her high school and would love to believe she was really good at it. Unfortunately, unforeseen life circumstances forced her to tone it down but she did not leave it all together and is now a TikTok dancer even though it is not to her best satisfaction. “However, now I’m planning to go hard at it again and exercising to keep fit”, she said.
Adding a different touch and a melodic “angel voice” as her fans call it, is Tina Motikoe- a singer and guitar player in the group. To her, singing is more of a gift than talent. “I started singing very young and I saw it as just playing with my voice at the time”. She explained observing her talent in music, comes from her mother’s side of the family which has a variety of singers. She never thought she would one day turn her good voice into a career.
“I used to sing a lot in primary and when I got to high school, my aunt was a teacher at the school, she encouraged me to take it further and sing at the assembly. From there people got really interested and would commend my singing”. When she was in Form B her parents bought her a guitar and found someone who would teach her because they realized her passion. She believes her music story began there because then people complicated her and would recommend her to others, which is how she got her publicity.
“For me to have been part of Tsa Moshoeshoe was because the group approached my dad in order for him to approve that I join the group. It was after they saw one of my videos. Now I have my first song called Kea u rata featuring Mora Mokoena”, Tina said.
There is more than what is told and more members with incredible talent within the group but the story would take too long to complete and does not end here. Continuing in the same spirit of Morena Moshoeshoe and working together to achieve goals, Tsa Moshoeshoe symbolizes “Kopano ke Matla”. Is that not the true essence of Basotho?