03 Feb 2022

Preparations for the long awaited Soul Fill Up music festival to be headlined by Frank Lesokwane alias Franco are in full swing.

The festival, billed for the National Stadium on April 2, comes two years late after being suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an interview on Wednesday, the project manager of Soul Fill Up, Phempheretlhe Pheto said part of the preparations included activation shows in different places by the Lepako hit maker; to hype fans and tune them in the right mood for the big day.

Pheto said they had made head ways in many aspects adding up to the main day. 

He said so far a total of 25 local artistes including the DJ were lined up for the festival.

Different organisations have also partnered with them for sponsorship, provision of security services, COVID-19 protocols and sound engineering, among others.

He said participating artistes and sponsors would all be unveiled in a press conference to be held this month.

Pheto of Lekunutu le Morena fame said some musicians volunteered to be part of the festival, while the Kwasa Kwasa legend personally picked some. 

“Although the festival is all about celebrating Franco’s achievements, we have engaged artistes of different genres for fun and variety. 

Some upcoming artistes are engaged too to showcase their skills and gain exposure,” he said.

Soul Fill Up was set to celebrate Franco’s achievements in the music industry since his early retirement from the army in 2001. 

Franco, who made his name during his BDF days decided to venture into music as a full time job.  

His decision to go solo has proved to be a move in the right direction, as the talented Kwasa Kwasa muso managed to release hit after hit making him a household name. 

Pheto said part of the proceeds from the ticket sales were used to assist some disadvantaged artistes.

“So far we have assisted two artistes, one DJ living with disability received a deck worth P22 000.

We realised that he depended on hired equipment and every time he was engaged on a gig most of his profit making was used to pay up the hired equipment,” said Pheto.

He further said one of MC Maswe’s dancer’s house was renovated at a tune of P16 000.

Mofora as affectionately called by his fans has worked collectively with seasoned artistes such as the late Malombo Mmereki, and renowned saxophonist Lister Boleseng among others.  

In his music career, he worked with Nata Capricorn and Les Afrika Sounds among others.

In his 20 years in the industry he has 18 albums to his belt and his music has stood the test of time. 

While some of his songs such as Ke lela le lona, Robala nnana and Mmamane robala were  released more than 10 years ago, they still wow music enthusiasts, proving him to be a force to reckon with. ends