Music of Botswana

Botswana is an African country made up of different ethnic groups, although Batswana are the majority of the population. Music is a large part of Botswana culture, and includes popular and folk forms. Botswana church choirs are common nationwide.

Beginning in the 19th century, Immigrants from the United Kingdom began arriving in large numbers and they called the colony Bechuanaland.^[1]

The oldest known instrument from present-day Botswana is a seburuburu bullroarer crafted from a bone, dating to the Matlapaneng dig site and dating to approximately 1,000 years ago. A bone flute or whistle dating back approximately 900 years ago was discovered in the Bosutswe site, with one opening that is covered by the user to produce different notes. Bone instruments are the only ones of this age durable enough to survive to the present day.^[2]

Instruments were historically considered important items that owners preserved over the course of their life, and some were considered the heritage of the community and could not be sold without the chief's permission.^[2] There was a religious significance to instruments, both in the materials used to make them and in blessings placed on them. They were then used in rituals to communicate with ancestors and request good fortune and health.^[3]

Of the charms carried by Tswana men in the 19th century to ward off evil, one was a whistle used as an alert to danger.^[3]

Traditional music of the Batswana and other peoples in the region was often performed daily prior to colonisation. This included both songs and religious chants. The norms introduced by the colonial government and the European missionaries largely ended such practices.^[4]

As Botswana's education system grew in the 1950s, choir was widely taught. It grew to be a popular type of music as competitive choir singing became common. The Brown Kalanga Wizards were the first recording group in present-day Botswana, forming in the 1950s and producing two albums.^[5]

Traditional folk music saw a resurgence as part of Botswana's independence movement and formation of a national identity.^[6] National radio broadcasts began in the 1960s, with choir and folk singing appearing as the most common genres.^[5] The folk singer and segaba player Ratsie Setlhako was one of the most popular post-independence musicians, performing at most national events from 1966 until his death in 1976.^[7]

Botswana was one of the first African countries to develop a hip hop following as the genre developed in the early 1980s. South African music grew and spread to Botswana following the end of Apartheid in 1994, including the kwaito and motswako genres.^[8]

The Botswana Telecommunications Authority started issuing radio broadcasting licenses in 1998. Yarona FM and Gabz FM began broadcasting in 1999.^[9] South African jazz, kwaito, and hip hop emerged as major genres at this time, and hip hop became the country's most popular music genre by 2003.^[5]

Traditional folk songs are the most well known form of music to originate from Botswana, particularly those of the Tswana people.^[6] Songs are performed by several vocalists and instrumentalists, who may harmonise with one another or stagger their notes to create momentum with interlocking sounds.^[10] The reed dance is an example of harmonised choir that existed before the introduction of hymns in the colonial period.^[2]

Historically, music of the peoples in present-day Botswana was closely associated with religion and spiritual healing. Upon their arrival, European missionaries challenged the traditional African music as it was closely associated with native religion and spiritual beliefs. Christian denominations that developed natively, like the Zion Christian Church, incorporate native healing songs in its practices.^[11]

Traditional Tswana songs are pentatonic and have a short melody with a range of less than one octave. They use a call and response form in which the lead singer begins and is followed by the other singers. The response may be a repetition of the lead singer or a balancing melody, and the exchange is repeated numerous times, sometimes for several minutes.^[12] Diatonic folk songs became more common as Setswana music was influenced by foreign styles.^[13]

As Setswana and related languages are tone languages, these tonal changes can be used in musical performances, often alongside flutes.^[14]

Music may be used to imitate animal sounds, such as bird calls. The San people use bowstrings to imitate the sound of hoofbeats.^[3]

Dance is closely integrated with traditional music and an essential element of its performance.^[5][11][15] Many of the instruments used in traditional songs require deliberate, complex movement of the body, particularly through the use of rattles.^[10]

Play songs feature staccato sounds, made by clapping or by wearing rattles.^[16]

Rite of passage songs carry messages for adolescents about innocence and chastity. Such songs for girls often use a moropa drum.^[16]

War songs often incorporate a motlhatswa whistle or a lepatata horn.^[16]

Vocalisation and string instruments make up the largest portion of Setswana folk music.^[6] Musical bows are common string instruments, including lengope, the nkokwane, the segwane, and the mafata-iswaneng, which are resonated through the mouth, through a gourd, through a tin can, and through the ground, respectively.^[17] The katara is a two-string or three-string guitar.^[5] The segankuru is held on the shoulder using a wire and played with a bow in a circular motion.^[17] This is the most common instrument in modern Setswana folk music.^[18] The San people traditionally play the quashi, a type of bow-like lute.^[19]

The sekinkane is a thumb piano sometimes used in Setswana folk music.^[18]

Some Batswana women are able to ululate, a trilling sound used as a form of cheering.^[16]

Matlhowa are rattles that are worn on the leg or the ankle. They are traditionally made of cocoons filled with pebbles or seeds.^[18] Each rattle is crafted from over one hundred cocoons, which are soaked, filled, dried, and then tied by each end to a string. Other rattles were created using the ears of springboks.^[20]

Clapping is common in traditional songs of the Tswana and San peoples, among other groups in the region.^[21] Wooden clappers may be used for this purpose, or marapo hand clappers crafted from bone.^[18] Among the Tswana people, clapping is often done at a beat of 4/4 or 2/4.^[22] It is historically the role of women to clap during songs.^[21]

Drums are less common in Setswana folk music relative to that of other African peoples, both in how often they are used overall and how prominently they appear in songs where they are present.^[6] This comes from the difficulty of finding trees of sufficient size to make drums in the Kalahari Desert.^[21] The only type of drum found in traditional Setswana music is the moropa, which can be formed from several materials, such as a tree trunk, a milk jug, or a can.^[18] Modern drums in Botswana are often two-sided, made of a short metal cylinder wrapped in cowhide.^[21]

The Kalanga people use drums more frequently than other peoples of Botswana.^[5] The Mbukushu people use friction drums, which is played by rubbing a reed tied to the drumhead. The Herero people use a two-sided ongoma, which is beat with sticks. The Kgatla people began using drums for women's bojale initiation ceremonies in 1871.^[21] The peoples of northern and northeastern Botswana fashioned tree trunk drums using animal hides as a cover, applying them fresh so they would shrink around the shape of the drum while drying.^[3] These drums were held between the legs at an angle while played.^[21]

Traditional wind instruments are often made of bone, reed, or animal horn. The lengwane and the motlhatswa, made of goat bone and a hollowed tree branch, respectively, are played by blowing across its top. The lenaka la phala, the lepatata, and the lenaka la tholo are made of an impala horn, a sable antelope horn, and a kudu horn, respectively. They are played by blowing into the instrument's narrow end.^[17] Wind instruments traditionally had practical uses, such as communication between herders, calling to cattle, and summoning spirits.^[23] Medics wore plugged whistles around their necks, which they used to carry medicine.^[24]

Flutes and whistles feature prominently in traditional music of the Batswana and the San.^[22] Reed flutes were made by driving a stick through the reed to hollow it. This produced either the short, high-pitched mpenyane flute or the low-pitched meporo created by joining reeds together. Meporo flutes could be nearly six feet long, and the plug at the end was manipulated with a stick to change its tune. These reed flutes were replaced by metal flutes in the 20th century.^[23]

Hip hop spread to Botswana from the United States.^[6] Because of this, English-language rapping in Botswana typically uses American English. The earliest hip hop of Botswana in the 1980s incorporated sampling, drum machines, beatboxing, turntablism, and instrumentation. Hip hop music videoes are associated with detailed storytelling.^[8]

The Wizards were formed as an early hip hop group in Botswana, also incorporating reggae and rhythm and blues.^[6] Jeff Matheatau is a prominent Motswana rapper.^[8] The record label Phat Boy signs with Batswana hip hop artists.^[6]

The radio and television show Strictly Hip-Hop, hosted by Dave Balsher (Draztik) and Salim Mosidinyane (Slim), helped popularise hip hop in Botswana.^[6] Both had brought American hip hop with them after moving to Botswana from the United States, and both were members of the hip hop groups Cashless Society and Organik Interfaze. Other radio hosts, such as Ndala Baitsile (DJ Sid) and David Molosiwa (D-Ski) also contributed to its spread.^[8]

Motswako is a subgenre of hip hop. It was popularised in Botswana by the Francistown-born South African artist Tebogo Mapine (Nomadic). He was a member of the Gaborone hip hop group P-Side Crew, one of the earliest hip hop groups in Botswana, from 1994. Motswako is usually rapped in Setswana, though it sometimes includes American English terms.^[8] Thato Matlhabaphiri (Scar) and Game Bantsi (Zeus) are motswako artists who rose to prominence in the 2010s.^[8]

Botswana's popular music is broadly referred to as jazz, which is common among African countries, though it is distinct from the jazz that originated in the Western world. Botswana has relatively few native popular music artists, and most of the country's popular music is imported from Europe, South Africa, and the United States.^[25] American rock and gospel have a presence in Botswana.^[8]

Kwaito music is commonly performed in South African languages like Afrikaans and Zulu, as well as American English.^[8] The kwaito singer Frank Lesokwane was one of the most successful artists in the early 21st century.^[5] Thabo Mapetla Ntirelang is another prominent kwaito artist. Kwaito culture has similarities to hip hop culture. The kwasa-kwasa genre developed in Botswana, based on Congolese kwassa kwassa music. Kwaito kwasa is a fusion genre of kwasa-kwasa and kwaito. Vee Mampeezy is a prominent kwaito kwasa artist.^[8]

The development of rock music's popularity in Botswana has been gradual.^[26] The music has begun to gain momentum, partly due to mainstream media such as MTV, Channel O and the internet. The native Batswana have demonstrated an appreciation for this genre, and since 2000 many new bands have been formed; most play locally, but a few have toured southern Africa. Rock culture has been recognized with bands uniting in a "Rock Against AIDS" tour. Crackdust was famous Metal band in Botswana.^[27] The National Music Eisteddfod is held annually in Selebi-Phikwe.^[28]

Radio stations in Botswana often broadcast popular music. Each music station has a format, or a category of songs to be played; these are generally similar to but not the same as ordinary generic classification. Many radio stations in Botswana are locally owned media.

An independent music industry (indie music) does exist and artists remain at an indie label for their entire careers. Indie music may be in styles generally similar to mainstream music, but is often inaccessible, unusual, or otherwise unappealing to many people. Indie musicians often release some or all of their songs over the Internet for fans and others to download and listen.

Vendors often sell CDs made specifically to be played at weddings, featuring both wedding music and pop music.^[29]

Music is taught in primary education and offered as an elective in secondary and tertiary education. Dance is generally included within music education.^[8]

High schools generally offer classes in singing, mostly choral, and instrumentation in the form of a large school band.

Public events and gatherings in Botswana are frequently accompanied by music, including holiday gatherings, fairs, dedications, and other celebrations.^[30] Each type of event or subject has its own associated songs.^[31]

It is common for individuals and groups to sing in public, sometimes spontaneously.^[32]

Music is an important part of several Botswana holidays, playing a major part in the celebration of Christmas.

Botswana is home to numerous music festivals, which showcase styles ranging from house to jazz to hip hop. Some music festivals are opened in local areas.

• Culture of Botswana
• List of Botswana musicians
• Music of Africa

• Akombo, David Otieno (2016). The Unity of Music and Dance in World Cultures. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-9715-7.
• Denbow, James R.; Thebe, Phenyo C. (2006). Culture and Customs of Botswana. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-33178-7. OCLC 62118271.
• Goldsmith, Melissa Ursula Dawn (2018). "Botswana". In Fonseca, Anthony J.; Goldsmith, Melissa Ursula Dawn (eds.). Hip Hop Around the World: An Encyclopedia. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9798216096184.
• Morton, Barry; Ramsay, Jeff (2018). Historical Dictionary of Botswana (5th ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-1133-8.
• Wood, Elizabeth N. (1985). "Traditional Music in Botswana". The Black Perspective in Music. 13 (1): 13–30. doi:10.2307/1214791. ISSN 0090-7790.

• https://botswanaunplugged.com/9787/10-botswana-artists-watch-2018/
• https://yourbotswana.com/2018/07/01/goitsemang-morwaanare/