Mohalenyane Phakela
TṦEPE music exponent, Kommanda Obbs is riding the crest of the wave after a highly successful month of May whose highlight was performing alongside Grammy Award-winning reggae superstar Damien “Jr Gong” Marley in South Africa.
The Ke Tauwe Fu hit-maker opened for Marley at the Zakifo Music Festival in Durban, South Africa on 28 May at a fiesta which also featured a number of artistes from France, Belgium, United Kingdom, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo and Niger.
The day before he had flown the country’s flag at the Bassline Africa Day Celebrations at the Johannesburg Expo Centre. The festival also featured artistes from Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Niger and South Africa.
It is in very rare instances that a Mosotho musician makes it big in other countries but the D2a-Majoe movement leader appears to be quickly ascending the ladder of success since the 2016 release of his 6-track project Keteu – Sound of the bell, his first offering since signing up with South Africa’s Native Rhythms music stable in 2015.
This week, Kommanda Obbs could not hide his joy, telling the Weekender that his latest gigs were much bigger platforms than the South African Metro Awards where he was nominated early this year.
He said performing alongside the globally and continentally renowned musicians proved he was on the right track towards achieving global stardom.
“That weekend was the highlight of my career so far and I think it meant much more than the Metros,” he said.
“This was also my first time performing with a live band and that demonstrates growth and that I am on the right path. The exposure and interaction with international acts who were there also showed me which route to follow to go global.
“I established working relations with some of the artistes with collaborations in the pipeline but I won’t go into detail so that it comes as a surprise. All I can say is people should expect an international album from me.
“I am one person who speaks things into existence, which is one of the laws of attraction,” he said.
The Maputsoe-born muso also said that Basotho had the potential to reach greater heights as long as they remained true to themselves.
“I have always said we have what it takes to succeed on any global stage as long as we represent our culture and tell our true stories through our talents.
“We tend to follow hypes or the type of sound which would be trending on social media or getting heavy airplay and that does not portray the reality in our sound for by trying to copy that we tend to be coping the style which was never ours,” he said.
