18 Apr 2021

Passion for music has driven the Maun-born afro-pop artiste, Temba Mpala to release his third album, Ke nna, which hit the shelves this month.

Mpala, who is popularly known as Skrippa Tee, is not only a musician. He is also a poet and plays the guitar. He has been able to capitalise on his poetic talent by infusing poetry in his music to make it more appealing to the ear.

The eight-track album was recorded at CMD records studio in Maun.  

The Poetavango Spoken Word Poetry member had played alongside the likes of Olefile ‘Stigger Sola’ Monageng and had also performed live shows at the annual Maun International Art Festival (MIAF).

Asked about his journey in music, Mpala said he took notice of his talent during his days at junior secondary school where he used to take part in the school entertainment events.

He said patience, commitment, and perseverance had kept him going to realise his dream of becoming a musician.

His hard work, he said also earned him a spot in , My African Dream as he managed to reach the finals in 2006. He credits the feat to have significantly contributed to his growth in the music industry.

His first single called, Pula e lo nele was released in 2010 followed by the second album, Modipa in 2018.

He, however, noted that both albums did not do well in the market as he did not have much experience to market and promote them.

Mpala urged fellow artistes to exercise patience and soldier on during the difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic noting that they should remain hopeful that things would change for the better.

Although he acknowledged the hardships they were going through as artistes, he said even though shows and festivals had been put on hold,  he encouraged his counterparts to continue with other ventures to sustain their careers.

“Let us not allow the impacts of COVID-19 to pull us down. Let us explore other available opportunities to make ends meet while we wait for the opening of arts,” he added.

He said currently most artistes survived on royalties from the Copyright Society of Botswana. ENDS