By: Thandiwe Kubere
Gospel Hip Hop artist and enthusiast, Tumelo Seliane, popularly known as T-Born hosted his ‘Passion of hope album’, where he featured some of Lesotho and South Africa’s iconic musicians. The event was held at Maseru High School, where attendees had the privilege of being the very first to hear compilations from the album through live performances.
T-Born professed the show was all about appreciating his supporters who walked with him and held his hand through his musical journey from day one. “This was to also acknowledge the people who bought my first and second album, so the idea of the show was to give them live performances of the third album which is underway and will be released in December”, he said. The album launch will feature music legends like Tankiso Moahloli, Dumi Mkokstad, Vs Cufflinks from Botswana, General J, North Ls and many more.
To make the pre-launch momentous, artists including the likes of : Prince Mark, John Matela and Mosola the comedian were present to brighten the event and keep it flowing with smiles and laughter. Accelerating T-Born’s excitement of the coming album, was witnessing songs receive a positive feedback and realizing people in attendance love and jam to the songs.
“When I wrote songs in the album, which is called THE PASSION OF HOPE (GOD I MADE IT), it was to tell and show people good things happen to those who persevere and remain in God because sometimes we encounter discouraging experiences in life”. He revealed that when he began his journey in music, he came across a number of people who doubted if he would ever make it in a career in Gospel Hip Hop. “At some point of my journey, I came across people who somehow got rejected in church, so getting booked internationally gave me hope and made me realize I have what it takes”, enlightened Seliane.
To top it off, he gained even more courage after winning the Best GOSPEL HIP HOP AWARD at Lesotho Gospel Music Awards. He explained this made him discern and appreciate his God-given talent more than ever before. He expressed the songs brought him excitement and some sense of achievement. “I wrote the song like ‘Ha e Phethehe’ featuring Keke Moletsane, which simply talks about ‘Ha e Phethehe thato ea Hao’ (May your will be done).
The album has songs including: The Passion (God I Made It), Mamella Ft Rithah Motseare, Oh Molimo Ft Vs Cufflinks, Hae Phethehe Ft Keke Moletsane, Glory Ft North Ls, Aint Broke Ft General J, Dont Cry, Everything Ft Tsiee, Trubite to the Loved One, It’s Not Right Ft Alicia [Bonus Track].
Taking a step back, he declared he started music at a young age and those around him told him he was very good. He therefore released his first album after completing his studies. He explained people were quite doubtful because Gospel hip hop genre was fairly new and not popular at the time. He as well thought it was going to be hard to penetrate the market, but when he released the second album, things started coming together and he started getting bookings internationally.