09 Dec 2020

New kid on the block Gorata Molatlhegi, known as GBaby Alp in music circles,  has dropped her debut single Tomato so so.

The 19-year-old house musician has made her intention known about being Botswana’s finest creator. 

The versatile vocalist who hails from Molepolole is also a producer and talent agent.

She composed and produced her single while Thabang Mogonono recorded, mixed and mastered the offering. 

In an interview with BOPA recently in Gaborone, Gbaby Alp, who is an AAT graduate from Botho University, explained that the single house song was an abstract from old playtime recitation.  

She said she featured composer Andile Ndlovu on the single.

Her intention, she said, was to modernise the olden vibes with latest beats and style, something common in South Africa. 

“The content of the track highlights the new normal, defined by COVID-19 protocols such as sanitising, wearing masks and social distancing in public places,” she said.

Gbaby Alp’s music career dates back to her high school days, though school football was her first love. 

Despite being committed to football, which saw her being appointed the team captain, she had love for music and was part of school choir which took part in competitions at Kweneng Region.

Raised in a male dominated family, venturing into the male dominated industry was not a mammoth task for her as she had the support of her male cousins.  

“It was very easy for me to express myself during learning process as the music trainer at Marang CJSS was my relative. He happened to be my agriculture teacher and football coach but cognizant of my interest in music,” she said.

Her hunger and love for music  often got Gbaby Alp into trouble and her the trainer on several occasions caught and punished Gbaby Alp and her Tanzanian classmates for sneaking in the music lab and using equipment.

The punishments however did not deter her. 

During her high school days she used to upload the beats she loved, mostly on social media and her being a female house beat producer really caught attention of music lovers.

Her only setback was being intimidated by her male counterparts and being doubted if she could make a breakthrough as a female record producer in a male saturated field. Failure to identify her type of production style added to her woes. Ends