Traditional music
Although there are many Botswana musical traditions, two stand out in terms of their importance. The first is the dithlaka. Practiced collectively, the genre sees each musician play a copper pipe with a single note. In a group, everyone plays their note at a different rhythm, led by the muklaba, a sort of conductor who ensures the harmony of the ensemble. The size of the dithlaka
and the style of arrangement vary from one village to another.The other emblematic traditional music of Botswana is Tswana music.
A dense and intense ceremonial music, Tswana music is recognizable by its symmetrical bars, unison singing and call and response format. Tswana music also includes some of the country's typical instruments such as the segaba, a bowed string instrument, and the setinkane, a lamellophone, a kind of thumb piano that resembles the mbira. On the percussion side, you can hear the moropa, a drum, the lepapata
, an antelope horn, or the claps used as rhythmic accompaniment. Some of the country's most famous bands - such as Culture Spears and Matsieng - have played (or been inspired by) Tswana music and are well worth a listen.Traditional music has always been popular, but there have been two peaks in Botswana: the first was in the late 1960s when the state-owned radio station conducted a massive project to collect traditional sounds from every village in the country and broadcast them every Sunday morning. The second peak occurred between 2005 and 2010, when Botswana's music industry began to take shape and flourish. During this period, traditional music entered a new golden age, being massively commercialised and enjoying a large place on the country's radio stations.
A highly anticipated event for Botswana music lovers is the Maitisong. This festival, which takes place every year at the theatre in Gaborone for about ten days, allows many local and African groups to perform in good conditions. It is a good opportunity to see a lot of artists from all over the world. The theatre of the same name(Maitisong Theatre) offers gospel, kwaito or afro-pop concerts as well as musicals all year round.The rock
With the popularity of the American music channel MTV and the development of the Internet, a strong and vibrant rock scene has developed in Botswana. It is not well known that the country even loves heavy metal and has even cultivated a few stars of the genre such as the pioneers Metal Horizon (which was born in 1993) and Wrust. The latter, a band from the 2000s, has had quite a following among the youth, finding in its death metal the ideal vehicle to revolt against the established order. Wrust paved the way for today's famous bands such as Crackdust, whose style is particularly aggressive, and Overthrust, appreciated for their performances and stage outfits (full black leather, bandanas, belts, cowboy hats, etc.)
The latter band organizes the famous Winter Metal Mania Fest in Ghanzi every year, the biggest meeting of metal fans in the country. A crazy atmosphere can be found at the Rockers Studio Shop in Maun, a small shop where you can buy albums from international and local bands as well as essential rock accessories. If you ever need an engraved leather suit or cowboy boots, look no further!
Jazz
Just like in neighbouring South Africa, jazz is an unavoidable aesthetic in Botswana. In fact, "South African" jazz is a bigger influence here than the American standard, a peculiarity that can be explained not only by the geographical proximity of the two countries but also by the presence, in the past, of pioneers like Hugh Masekela. Forced into exile by apartheid, this legendary South African jazzman found Botswana to be his home and had a lasting influence on the local scene. This can be heard in the music of Socca Moruakgomo, the Botswana trumpet maestro, as well as in more recent artists like the excellent pianist Bokani Dyer.
Also, let's not forget to mention gumba-gumba, which, by mixing modernized Zulu and Tswana music with traditional jazz, is a pure Botswanan product.
In Gaborone, Botswana Craft regularly hosts very good jazz concerts during its Mascom Live Sessions, and in Maun, the International Arts Festival puts together a very good program with a strong jazz component. A great time for the city, if not the country.Current music
As in many other areas, Botswana's current music scene has taken influences from South Africa and the Congo. From the former - in addition to jazz - Botswana has taken kwaito. This genre originated in the townships of Johannesburg in the 1990s and is the local cousin of hip-hop, a kind of slowed-down, bass-heavy, languid house music that someone raps to. Although it embodies a large part of South Africa's musical history - the marabi of the 1920s, the kwela of the 1950s and the mbaqanga traditions - kwaito has largely captured the hearts of Botswanans, developing a copious and prolific scene in the country. Local kwaito stars include Mapetla, Skazzo, Ghavorrou and P-Mag. Although the genre is in decline these days, each new album by the stars of the genre is welcomed with equal fervor
The other major trend in modern Botswana music is kwasa-kwasa. Originating in the Democratic Republic of Congo, this kind of slow rumba with a jerky and lively rhythm is now deeply rooted in the musical landscape of Botswana. It is embodied locally by stars such as Franco Lesokwane and his group Franco and Afro Musica, Alfredo Mos and Jeff Matheatau.
As nothing is lost and everything is transformed, some artists have merged kwaito and kwassa-kwassa to give birth to the well named "kwaito-kwassa". Typical of Botswana, the genre brings the faster, more insistent tempos of kwaito to the melodies and phrasing of kwasa-kwasa. The genre features a star whose fame extends beyond the country's borders: Vee Mampeezy (also known by his civilian name Odirile Vee Sento). Soon other artists of the genre such as Slizerou Skeat followed suit.
Botswana has not escaped the hip-hop wave and has a well established local scene. By the 1990s, the genre was already mainstream and pioneers like Cashless Society paved the way for several generations of artists such as local stars Scar and Kast, who are known for the quality of their writing. The country also has its own variant of hip-hop, motswako, a mixture of rap in local languages (Setswana, Sesotho, Zulu or Afrikaans depending on the origin of the rapper) and English. Several artists or collectives such as Zeus or HHP have distinguished themselves in this field and have attracted a new audience to hip-hop
If you want to get a taste of local hip-hop, the Blue Note bar in Gaborone is the place to be
The dance
Here too, everything begins with the San people. For them, dance is ritual. In the past, it was used to heal, or to celebrate around the fire a successful hunt or a happy event. The dances are punctuated by the songs of the women and the famous clicks of the men and each one tells a story. Intense dances, they usually lead to trance
Another very common dance in Botswana is the borankana. Also known as phathisi, it is usually performed by the Bakwena tribe, traditionally by the older and younger people. Recognizable by the cords it requires to be worn on the legs, this dance is performed in a semi-circle of two lines and follows a rhythm set by whistles and hand clapping. The setapa, on the other hand, is a traditional dance of the Bangwaketse tribe (Kanye's village and surrounding areas) and sees a group of people stamping their feet to the rhythm of the song it accompanies. Made up of an equal mix of men and women, the troops usually wear brown shells on their feet that make a sound as they dance. Another Botswana tradition is the tsutsube, a trance dance performed by the San. The ndazola is another tradition of the Kalanga people
If stumbling upon a boma, a meeting of the members of the village, is one of the best opportunities to admire Botswana dances and songs, a few meetings allow to have an interesting panorama of the area. Starting with the Kuru Dance Festival, a major cultural event in Botswana held annually since 1997. Bringing together hundreds of Khoisan from all over Botswana - and sometimes even from Namibia and South Africa - the festival lasts two to three days and consists of numerous dances, games and traditional meals. Another important event is the Dithubaruba Cultural Festival, which celebrates the Bakwena culture in Ntsweng, in the Molepolole region. The program includes dances, songs, crafts and traditional food. In a similar vein, the Mmakgodumo Heritage & Cultural Festival celebrates Ngwaketse culture in Kanye, featuring traditional food, poetry, song and dance. Finally, every July1st, Sir Sereste Khama Day, the national holiday, offers its share of traditional dances through its big celebrations.
