Pilani Bubu unites African musicians for inaugural Folklore Festival

Joining Bubu on stage for the Folklore Festival from across Africa will be Papillion, Leomile, Stevo Atambire and Wanlov the Kubolor.

“I like to think of music as a generational gift passed down from both sides of my family. Both lineages have musical inclinations and gifts. I’ve been singing and writing music since I was about 8 years old because it was a natural urge,” said Leomile spoke to Eyewitness News.

“I decided to pursue it seriously as a life path in tertiary when I accidentally discovered that my university had a music course and really fell in love with exploring my own musical voice,” Leomile elaborated.

A nova from the mountain kingdom of Lesotho, Leomile, is a soulful singer-songwriter and composer whose musical tapestry is in Sesotho and English.

She touches on the important issues of identity, love and womanhood. She also uses music as orature to restore the memory of who we have been, and who we can become. Her deliberation of these vital and often buried aspects of African life and humanity exposes golden threads of honesty, idealism and hope in her songs.

“Africans have such undeniable soul and heart and it’s in the music. Being ignored for a long time by the world, barring a few famous giants, may have been seen as a negative thing but I also think that it helped maintain a certain purity to ‘our thing’. Now, the world is catching on and I think the music is seen as innovative but really we’re just the campuses reminding people of home’ and soul,” said Leomile.

“There’s a special collaboration that’s going to happen on the stage. I don’t know that I’m allowed to disclose the details just yet, but it’s going to make the performance very special,” she said.

Kenyan artist, Papillion explained his process before a song comes.

“Honestly I go through a lot before a song comes, lack of sleep, no appetite, I want to be alone. It’s like labour. During this period, I will live in the City with Nyatiti (African instrument) and go away to the forest or campsite for a few days, and then songs are delivered,” said Papillion.

Papillion is one of the first Kenyan musicians in recent times to use African instruments collaboratively with an eye to redesign, combine and upgrade them for a new musical experience.

For instance, he has taken an eight-string lyre, which is played in one version or another, in countries along the Nile River and set it inside a calabash resonator (similar to those found in the “Kora” of the Sahel) along with two “Kalimbas” (finger pianos) which are played throughout Africa. This ingenious invention allows him to play two different instruments at the same time.

Papillion argues one can trace the influence of African music on every genre across the world.

“I would say all influence, from century Africa was the powerhouse of arts and culture. From the days of slave trade, Africans moved with their music and so shaped today’s Blues, RnB, Jazz, Reggae, and Hip-hop. Blues was sorrowful music and prayer for God’s help Music. The singing of Blues was named Blues and grooves from their feet became Rhythm (RnB) to mention a few. Everything came from Africa.”

Stevo Atambire from Ghana is a Frafra neo-griot and kologo – a two-stringed luth, often considered an ancestor of the banjo savant from Bolgatanga which means a town upon a rock.

“My music tells a story, be it good or bad, there is a story. I play a lot for funeral crowds and all day, all night, people come with their names. And the most exciting in my region is they don’t just give names, they give names with title and meaning. You know they give names according to how you gave birth and so forth. The people will come and they will even put their dog’s names as proverbs and you’ll be freestyling with it and telling stories with it. So everywhere I find myself with my instrument and with stories,” said the Ghanaian musician.

Atambire is very sought after among his people, who are spread all over Ghana and Burkina Faso. He performs at all social functions from outdooring of babies, to burials of royals, and everything in-between.

Atambire has also toured the world as a solo act, with Wanlov the Kubolor’s Afro-Gypsy project, and currently plays with the Alostmen. He also hosts two yearly festivals, the Sawoo and NYNT Festival, in the Upper East region of Ghana.

Ghanaian and Romanian award-winning music producer, performer and creative director Wanlov the Kubolor, who plays the guitar and koshkas will also take over the stage.

Kubolor is also part of the satirical duo FOKN Bois, with M3NSA, who are credited with creating the world’s first Pidgin Musical “Coz Ov Moni”.

Kubolor is popular for his humor, bravery, unorthodox views on varying topics, and his down-to-earthness. He travels the world barefoot making his memories and connections to places more intimate. The Kubolor wants freedom & justice for all.

The National School of the Arts will perform their highly anticipated African Reflections. African Reflections features the NSA music department and the rebirthed NSA Choir under the leadership of Xolani Noveld. This exciting performance will bring the Folklore Festival to a heart-warming conclusion.

“The confluence of ideas and energy surrounding the Folklore Festival speaks of the magic of ubuntu. We need to honour and celebrate our cultural roots. Significantly 2022 marks a new era of leadership at the NSA – we are proud to be led by a strong new Principal Mrs Salome Gaelesiwe – the first African Principal; I was appointed new HOD of music at the beginning of the year. It is significant that we are reflecting and honouring our heritage in this way at this juncture of the school’s history. We look inward to reflect and remember. In music, we celebrate the past and the present and look to the future in glorious harmony. This is the NSA’s African reflection,” said Thabang Phiri – the HOD of music at the National School of the Arts (NSA).