‘I am Afrika’

Sereetsi & The Natives banger

New album features a lot of diversity

VICTORIA MARUMO

editors@thepatriot.co.bw

Sereetsi & the Natives have returned with another masterpiece titled ‘I am Afrika’ which was released on June 30. This project marks their third studio album and features more collaborations than they have ever had in the past. The 9 track album was produced by singer-songwriter and four string guitar player Tomeletso Sereetsi and Mikael Rosen whose contribution includes playing drums for 7 out of 9 of the songs in the album. A great portion of production and recording took place at Lab in the Loop and Lighthouse Studios. 

Sereetsi said working on the album was challenging and equally exciting as he had a lot of diversity on the table contrary to the common Sereetsi & the Natives music culture. “I would usually have a team of four or five musicians that would play on all songs in an album but this time around I picked a different team of musicians for each song depending on the creative outcomes I was going for,” said Sereetsi. The music maestro is of the firm belief that “I Am Afrika” represents the brand that is Sereetsi & The Natives despite the different contributions with co-stars of unique cultural descent. 

Featured on the album is chart trending headliner and multi-award-winning singer-songwriter and guitarist in the United States of America Jackie Venson, Nigerian multi-award winning Brymo, Swedish soul artist Oscar Soul Experience, South African multi-award winning Berita, South African Music Awards (SAMA) award winning jazz piano expert Bokani Dyer, Zambian stars Wezi and James Sakala as well as one of Botswana’s exceptionally talented singer-songwriter Han C. “I sent them the music that I composed and the lyrical content I was going for. They worked within something of an architecture that I already welded into place. I invited them into my world and they made it theirs and ours in a very special way,” enthused Sereetsi.

The Covid-19 pandemic has undoubtedly caused more harm than good especially for the creative industry and Sereetsi pointed out that challenges were experienced with producing the album as a result thereof. “It was very difficult to raise funding as the music industry went into total shutdown. That was the low point. But on the bright side, the creative pursuit was enriching and gave me hope that there will be a much joyous future where people will leave their houses to rejoice in the music once again. The making of the music was cathartic. It healed me and kept my spirit alive,” he beamed.

His fans, otherwise known as the natives, also served as a pillar of strength during trying times and motivated him to keep going by contributing towards production of CDs. “I was lucky to have the cost of production of the CDs covered in part by some of the natives. I would like to thank them from the bottom of my heart. They want nothing in return. All they want is for the native sounds to keep playing on and on,” he says.

According to Sereetsi ‘I Am Afrika’ is centered around bringing Africans and humanity together to celebrate and embrace the rich diversity of music, languages and cultures. “I was blessed to bring so many of the world’s most talented creatives together for this musical expression and celebration,” Sereetsi added.