08 Dec 2020

Thabo Gabojewe, known in the music circles as K.Labs appeared a bit desperate for the appointment to materialise, or rather for publicity. 

The Rakops fellow who works for VTM Security Services was supposed to travel to his home village that morning and because of the distance, had planned to catch an early bus.

“Don’t worry, I will catch the 10 o’clock bus. In fact, I have found a lift to Gaborone form a friend,” he said calling the office earlier on the day to ensure that the appointment for the interview, which had initially flopped because of his planned travel, actually took place.

Less than an hour later he showed up, and the seemingly too shy to sing trap music artiste looked so willing to open up.

“Mate, this COVID-19 pandemic has done more damage to us upcoming artistes. When it struck we were only just introducing ourselves to the world of music, but now we are still confined and unknown. So any kind of publicity is welcome,” he said.

K.Labs said that even though established artistes had also been affected by the pandemic, he felt that they were a little better placed because of their status prior to the outbreak, which enabled them to service on online sales.

He said that when the pandemic broke, he was only readying himself for an event that he believed would have catapulted him into the world of music.

“There was a big event that was slated for Paje where I was to share the stage with the likes of Vee Mampeezy and other big artistes.

I had convinced the organisers to slot me for a free play as a way of advertising myself, but when the show was a few weeks away the county was put on lockdown,” he said.

Before the flopped Paje concert, K.Labs said he only performed at small events like talent shows at Serowe brigade where he was schooling. He said that such events, although small, helped him in aspects such a stage management.

He said that the modest exposure also helped market him in Serowe and surroundings and made it easy for him to get invited to small gigs, where he mostly performed for free.  

K.Labs, who said that he played what was known as Trap Music, said he had confidence that once he got exposure, people would embrace his music.

“I have confidence in my music. It is a kind of rap that is rarely played because most local rappers prefer motswako. I am planning to collaborate with one South African artist called Avocalist who plays the same kind of rap,” he said.

K.Labs said that at the moment, the only way for him to get exposure was uploading songs on media like YouTube, and that he was planning to shoot a few videos to share through the same platform.

He said that his effort of  dropping some of his songs at various radio stations failed to bear any fruits as they complained about what they deemed acerbic lyrics, which they advised him to cut out.

K.Labs was hopeful that his relocation from Letlhakane to Jwaneng would work in his favour as he was now closer to Gaborone, where most amenities were found.

His main wish however was for the COVID-19 pandemic to disappear altogether so that artistes, especially upcoming ones like him could start making a living.

His short term wish is for government to ease restrictions altogether and allow artistes to host concerts with small crowds. Ends