MASERU — Lesotho’s youthful Lefate musical group is on the verge of a break-up, just three years after the duo released their debut album which catapulted them to national prominence.
It emerged this week that the combination of Lethapa Tikiso (pictured) and Molibeli Mokake has been increasingly becoming fragile over the years.
This week Tikiso, the group’s lead singer, said his colleague’s claims in an interview with a local weekly could be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Mokake, in the interview, all but claimed to be the main man behind Lefate.
Curiously, the interview was carried by the Informative, a paper that falls under BAM Consultancy which also manages Lefate.
“I’m pissed,” Tikiso, popularly known as Damario, told the Lesotho Times.
Tikiso said he could no longer put up with his colleague’s “bad behaviour”.
“Enough is enough,” he said. “We have always been group members but not soul buddies.”
Tikiso said he was the group’s mainstay, contrary to what he alleged Mokake claimed.
Mokake, whose stage name is Stlofa, said he had “singlehandedly” produced the group’s debut album, Life is Like a Lie, while Tikiso was working in Qacha’s Nek.
But Tikiso dismissed the claims, saying he was responsible for the production of the award-winning album as well as their second — Ha Le Lapa Lea Solla — which was released last year.
“I have always been the man behind our production but in the article my fellow was quoted as saying he produced all our CDs,” Tikiso said. “I have had sleepless nights producing these albums.”
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Tikiso said forming Lefate was his initiative.
“There is a belief among fans that the guy behind Lefate is the dreadlocked man. It drives me off,” he said.
“I want to tell local fans that the name Lefate and all its productions will still be around whenever I’m around.
“Even if we break up, Lefate will still be there as long as I’m there.
“The core of our Lefate music comes from unique instrumentation and I’m the one who does that.”
Tikiso added: “People should get to know what Lefate is. It’s a national youth group that won a national award in 2007.
“I worked my butt off to get the group to where it is today, but he (Mokake) claims to have started the group when in fact I introduced him to Lefate.
“He was working with other people while I was involved with some DJs and I introduced him to the industry through the recording of demos.
“But I was already performing solo as Lefate.”
Tikiso said their combination had been strained by what he alleged to be Mokake’s “bad behaviour”.
“His character . . . he has always been acting like a menace, a troublemaker. When we came together for group assignments we worked well at first,” he said.
“At first everything seemed so smooth but later, at times, the guy would not be available for shows.”
Tikiso alleged: “He has been associated with alcohol abuse and other mischief.
“People would not say it’s Stlofa, but Lefate singer. So I had to carry the baggage he created.
“After his claims in the interview I said this is going too far.
“And I will not miss him if we are to split because there are many youngsters who can easily fill up his void. We have been doing talent scouting.”
Efforts to contact Mokake to give his side of the story failed.