Last week sometime I did THIS ARTICLE and I was completely honest about some men people who totally push my buttons. These are people whom I just lahv without knowing why. I feel them, I feel their work and I just want life to do them good. On the number 1 spot was Khuli Chana.
He is an unconventional motswako artist. If you do not know what Motswako is, it is that music done by abo HHP and Tuks. That hip-hop/rapping that is done in Setswana mixed with English, sometimes mixing with a bit of street language and borrowing some words from other languages. Sometimes using the deepest of Setswana and throwing in some hectic Setswana idioms in there. (yes, there’s bo maskandi and scathamia in KZN. Ko North West it’s Motswako.) It’s some indigenous, home-brewed music and I think you only need to listen to one song to be hooked.
So yha, Khuli Chana could be called the newest, dopest addition to the motswako tribe. He won the best newcomer award at the Channel O Music Video Awards in 2009, and also nominated for best hiphop at last year’s Metros. He is also part of Morafe, a group from Mafikeng.
Now… I caught up with Khuli to chat a bit about him and his first solo album, MotswakOriginator. Yes, I also raised my eyebrows. And you can imagine what my first question to him was.
Carino: The whole MotswakOriginator title… comeon, you are not inventing Motswako, o tla maobane… why did you name your first offering MotswakOriginator?
(Shem nna I saw it as a bit of disrespect for abo HHP. They’ve been doing it for so long, for someone to come and say he is originating the whole thing. But guess what he said)
Khuli Chana: Exactly! That’s thing; it has got people talking and asking questions like that. I think, when you do something, then people got to talk about it, you hear what I’m saying. You gotta make people want to listen to you.
(He’s got a point.). And the rest of the chat went something like this:
Carino: Now, it’s all good now you are dropping hits. Some musicians have faded over time. Wena do you see yourself as old as Caiphus Semenya or Hugh Masekela and still making good music?
Khuli Chana: Actually it’s funny that you ask that. I was chilling with my manager not so long ago and we were talking about exactly that; that I don’t know how long I want to be doing music for. There is so much that I want to accomplish, you know. But my passion for music will never die.
Carino: So what were you doing before you started doing music fulltime?
Khuli Chana: I have always been interested in doing music but I’ve always been interested in serious business. You see, I’m a creator. I like building stuff from zero to becoming good products, and that is how I’m interested in the business of manufacturing. It’s like, with music..you would start singing a song in the shower, next thing it’s up on the stage, then its recorded and everyone is listening to it. It’s really amazing.
Carino: You know, now that you saying this, I was thinking about it especially writing your own music and selling it. I thought, it’s more like keeping a diary and next thing you are sharing it with the world. Coz the song would be personal, like your deep feelings, you are writing them then next thing you are sharing them with the world. It’s like your thoughts are now public knowledge. Does that make you feel any different from the Khulani that you grew up as?
Khuli Chana: It does in its own way. For me it’s like the most amazing thing. I actually get shocked that I’ve written songs that people go crazy about. You see, you start off humming this, mumbling that, sometimes I wouldn’t even have the words to the songs, but I’d play the beat. I would play it in my head everyday, eventually it gets serious and it’s a good song. And with regards to feelings and thoughts, I think the thing is as an artist it is important to be honest and true in your work. Coz when you write honesty it will not go away after a while, and those who listen will also know the real story. It’s like in Konka where I say “banyana ba re Khuli ha o na koloi” You see somehow people feel me because of that line. Coz it’s honest, you know what im saying. Its honest, it’s real.
Carino: Talking about “Konka”, there’s a line that says. “Ga o goa leina lame scream out loud”. That line for me just speaks confidence. It’s like you are confident about what you are about and want to be recognized for it. Is that how you feel?
Khuli Chana: Yeah.. I gotta be, hey. Music is a feeling, man. And you got to be confident about what you are selling so that other people will believe in it too. And with music, you got to feel your stuff, coz you will find that other people can’t really hear the exact words but they can relate to your attitude.
Carino: And I think that’s a good thing as well, when it comes to the language thing. Coz we tend to think people who do not speak Setswana will not hear Motswako.
Khuli Chana: That has actually become the difficult part. We are now working on making deals overseas and stuff. There are opportunities, but you see, the thing is nna I look at artists like Hugh Masekela and Ladysmith Black Mambazo and how they have made it there. And to be honest, there are miillions of rappers in the US, trying to get opportunities to break it into the music industry. So if im going to cross over sounding like them, eish, then I don’t see the point. I prefer coming with something that will make the people want to check you out, and understand were you coming from, My style needs to have that South African stampnyana on it, you know what Im saying. I will not change my style just so I will be accepted internationally.
Carino: Yha, you will end up losing yourself and getting lost in all that hype of trying to please the crowds.
Khuli Chana: Exactly, babe! Ba baie bo m’rapper, jo! I remember seeing bo Ladysmith Black Mambazo, performing on the stages of London, and even when they are there, they still don’t lose their style.
Carino: Yes. And I read somewhere that before you were Morafe, you were in a group called Jazzadaz.. what was that all about? Jazzadaz..
Khuli Chana: Jazzadaz, (correcting my pronunciation)
(and we giggle)////smiles////
Carino: (saying it properly) Jazzadaz, yeah
Khuli Chana: That was me and Kaygee of Morafe. We were rapping just the two of us, then two years later, we met Towdee le Mo Molemi. And we were a little tribe-nyana.
Carino: Why did you guys call yourselves "Morafe"?
Khuli Chana: That was like a rebirth for us. We used to rap in English, so that’s when we changed our style. We met Jabba and we would do gigs with him then we started rapping in Setswana. He fell in love with us and there we were doing our thing. The Morafe thing was actually supposed to be a collective. Jabba came up with the name and it was supposed to be with a couple of other rappers. Like, each one doing their thing, but collectively we would call ourselves Morafe. So when we saw that, ah, people aren’t coming to the table, we decided to keep the name.
Carino: Your voice changes completely when you talk about HHP. Is this somebody that you look up to?
Khuli Chana: I do look up to him, jo. Jabba empowers, you get what I’m saying. His selflessness is the reason some of us have careers today.
Carino: Wow! Okay, that’s very deep. And are you enjoying the industry now?
Khuli Chana: Well… I have to.. (and we laugh). I have been doing it for a while, and I’m starting to get into it. I love it. The point is to kick back, and always thinking of ways to make things happen. I gotta hustle, you get what I’m saying.
Carino: Hustling. Everyone is using that word these days.
Khuli Chana: Yha man, but I’d be happy to stop hustling, jo! We all hustle but the aim is to hustle to the point that you won’t need to hustle anymore. So Im working towards that mark.
Carino: Do you watch TV?
Khuli Chana: I do, but not that much.
Carino: At the moment, what programmes do you watch?
Khuli Chana: (thinks) I watch that soapie. The one on etv. Rhythm City
Carino: Heh…You have appeared there once, haven’t you?
Khuli Chana: I have hey… it was a once-off thing, but I enjoyed it very much. That Rhythm City gig was such a dream-come-true. You see, coz I used to watch it before, actually and I would say… “I want to be on that show”. And it happened. Besides that, I watch series like boThe Good Wife. The acting is…wow! That’s another thing that I want to get into; Acting!
here he was recording the "Freshe" video. I just love this picture, for some reason. Or rather, I just love him on this picture. //cough-cough//
Carino: Tell me about your “No more hunger” song and Action Aid.
Khuli Chana: Yeah… No more hunger. We actually have two parts of that. No more hunger 1 features JR and we’ve actually just shot a video for it. After the song came out, Mpho Maboi was at the studio and she heard the song, took the CD and asked if she could play it the following day. She did, and it appears the ActionAid people heard it, called the radio and she called me to say they would like to use the song in their campaign. They gave me a call and I was like, wow, that’s a cool opportunity So we went back into studio and redid that song for the campaign. Now it is featured in a CD, representing South Africa, with other artists from countries like Kenya, Nigeria and others.
Carino: Does being part of this campaign make you feel that you are making a difference somehow. Do you feel that your name is out there in Africa?
Khuli Chana: Well, it’s definitely out there, yeah. But so far we haven’t had any concrete feedback as to how fast it’s going. But music spreads. You see, just the way mgozi flies, music just travels.
Carino: Back to Morafe. I saw somewhere that morafe will be doing another album soon.
Khuli Chana: Yeah…yeah… we haven’t decided when exactly we’ll be dropping it but it’s gonna drop soon.
Carino: And your solo career? When are we hearing the next album?
Khuli Chana: I’ve been working on some songs. But Im not under any pressure to release another one. Motswakoriginator is doing good, I am not in a rush, I’m still working on them, need to look at them, redo them, make a couple of mistakes, get back in studio and start all over again, until I get it right.
Carino: So you’re not under any pressure?
Khuli Chana: Not at all, I value the whole thing – working at my own pace, running my own race. And when I’m ready I will drop something. But I will probably have a new song this year already, to release just before Christmas.
Carino: So, while coming up with this new single, are you not pressured to make it reach the standard set by Konka, and Freshe…?
Khuli Chana: Naah, I think... you know what, it took a while to drop this album. I still get shocked that people are still loving bo Freshe, Tswak’stickem, Konka. These songs are all different. Each has its own sound. I’m not going to try and create another Freshe… or another Konka, no. You know, and I’m not going to get into studio and say I want to make a kwaito song, or a hiphop song.. I just want to make music. In fact, I want the next album to be very musical?
Carino: Musical?
Khuli Chana: Musical in a sense that it will have a lot of life and meditation kind of stuff. Yes, it will still be rapping, but I want something that people can sing along to. Coz sometimes you can be a fast rapper and interested in putting rhymes together, but it’s more interesting if people can hear what you are saying and are able to sing along.
Carino: So the name Khuli Chana, right…. I get that the Khuli part comes from your name, Khulani. Where does the Chana come from? Is it the ‘chana’ just like we say it ekasi?
Khuli Chana: khuli chana! It’s actually the most amazing thing. I was given the name by some random drunk guy back at home. He used to call me khuli chana and it sort of stuck with me.
Yha... so then we laughed about the fact that some drunken guy gave him his trademark. Me asking if he still knows the guy, and that the guy can actually get up and sue him oneday. lol
I personally think Khuli Chana is cool, chilled and just totally ‘freshe’.. and I think he is going far.
Check out one of his videos, Konka:
Pictures are from all over.