Chippa Legodimo
12 March 2008
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Black Money Makers have unearthed another gem. Captain Dira (real name Diratsagae Mahupela) is the latest talent to emerge out of the company owned by one of Botswana's brightest music stars Odirile 'Vee' Sento.
Already Vee is speaking highly of his latest signing. "He is the biggest artiste I have registered at Black Money Makers. There are only a few who possess his kind of talent. He is so dynamic and interesting," Vee said.
Two months after his album hit the shelves, Captain Dira has already started climbing the success ladder. Shows are lined up for him week in week out and Combi drivers do not seem to get enough of his music.
But more interesting is the fact that fans seem to be more hooked on his vulgar song - Machobane. In the track Dira expresses his displeasure at the way people are cheating each other in relationships. He uses explicit and blunt language. But who cares because the fans especially love lines such as "O a ja o ajelwa, mongwe le mongwe oja ee wa gagwe".
"This song is not vulgar. It is only saying things the way they are. No one can deny that relationships are strained by the cheating we seem to be so obsessed with. It is unfortunate that when people cheat, they do not realise that they can also be cheated. It is not that I encourage people to go about doing it. It is the reality that we have to live with. What goes around comes around," Dira said in defence of his popular track.
Though he has dubbed himself a Captain, he is not a soldier as many have assumed. He and his 'boss' Vee say they needed a name that carry weight to introduce him in a big way.
"In the army institution, there are all these ranks like Major General, Lieutenant as well as Captain. He is captain at Black Money Makers because we do music with the same kind of discipline and he deserves a high rank than Private," Vee said jokingly.
"But seriously speaking, we felt that the name Captain will be more popular than if we used his birth name," he added.
Born in the North East village of Matsiloje, Captain Dira has always been a big fan of both Kwaito and Afro-Pop. But when he finally decided to join the industry, he chose to do traditional music.
"Naturally, I like both Afro-Pop and Kwaito but I discovered that there was something that these other traditional musicians were not doing. So I tried to mix our traditional music with Mpaxanga, Afro-Jazz as well as Afro-Pop and it has worked well for me," he said proudly.
In his release, the track Gumba especially has a real African feel. It has the potential to make a mark outside the country if properly marketed. Many have already associated it with South Africa. The heavy bass backing vocals feels like the sounds of either Mbongeni Ngema or Black Mambazo. It is a love song fit to be played for a prince on his wedding day. Dira's soft lead voice makes it sound sexier. Surprisingly, the title track Matalanyane is not as popular.
Before the recording of the album, Dira was just a session artiste. He featured in Acid's traditional house track Banyana le basimane and Robert Dargei's Music Kings of Botswana. He has collaborations with Vee, Franco and Bisto among others.
While many are singing his praises, one question remains. How long will he last in this tough up and down world of music?.
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