STLOFA

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Molibeli “Stlofa” Mokake, was a member of the award-winning musical group Lefate and has released his maiden solo album in 2009 “Ha Ho poho peli”.
The dreadlocked artist — widely regarded as one of Lesotho’s most talented musicians of his generation — has been part of Lefate since 1996, alongside Lephatha “Damario” Tikiso. Together the duo won a national music award in 2007.


While his music has become modernised, it still maintained its distinctive, traditional Mokorotlo beat. “The reason why I decided to sing Mokorotlo in the first place was because it is the original Basotho music. I don’t want Mokorotlo, our forefathers’ music, to die. It should live on,” he believes.

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Documentary captures Stlofa’s life

18 Aug 2011 By Lerato Matheka

Filed Under: Entertainment

MASERU — Molibeli ‘Stlofa’ Mokake has been a hustler, a drug junkie, a band member, a solo artiste, a sober man and perhaps a role model to some. His relatively short life has been full of episodes that are both embarrassing and uplifting. He has been down, up, down and up again. Now these episodes will be captured in a documentary chronicling Stlofa’s life from childhood to now. It also captures his days as the other half of popular Lefate until it split and he decided to go solo. The documentary will be released next month. The documentary is being produced by a local company, Mokoari Streets Entertainment, owned by filmmaker Jeremiah Mosese and his partner Hannah Stockmann. Speaking with the Weekender, the duo said they decided to produce the documentary because of Stlofa’s determination to make music a successful career. “Stlofa is an interesting character with a story to tell, a story which everybody can relate to,” Stockmann said. “The documentary which will be launched next month tells a story of Molibeli behind Stlofa, a dedicated budding musician who has been in the music industry for a while now,” she added. Mosese added, “It tells a story of a normal guy who was raised by his grandparents because of a bitter relationship between him and his mother.” “The documentary is not only telling the story of who Stlofa is but it opens him up like a book and divulge his sadness and happiness behind the energetic individual he is,” he said. The documentary was also meant to encode Stlofa’s songs, Mosese said. “The documentary is going to tell meanings behind his songs and the motive behind his song writing. His music is mainly based on his personal experiences.” “It is going to be a very dramatic yet very emotional piece. He talks about the time his mother kicked him out of home because of their bitter relationship and he had to find a way to survive. He talks about how he chose music as a means of survival,” Mosese said. He said Mokoari Streets Production decided to produce a documentary on Stlofa because of what has been written about him by the media. “We had this curious feeling to get in touch with this controversial young artiste who has been written so much about by the media.” The duo said they were seeking to break away from reporting on “ancient history of people who had made impact in Lesotho by reporting about what is happening among young people of Lesotho in the now age”. “I perceive Stlofa as the wholegrain of Basotho nation, one artiste who has been in the music industry since the mid 90s and yet he strived to keep it in the country and not seek opportunities elsewhere. His persistence in making his mark in the music industry just intrigued us,” Mosese said. He said he doesn’t expect people to judge the Mokorotlo star based on his story but rather appreciate his life journey. The Mampoli star told the Weekender he decided to grab the opportunity to share his life with his fans because the “struggles” made him a strong individual. “I believe my story can change the life of the next person. “I have seen artistes doing music with the hope that promoters and music shops will help sell their products instead of doing it themselves. This to me says they don’t love what they are doing hence trusting the next person,” Stlofa said. He added that the documentary will show people that “Molibeli grew up a hustler but is now determined to keep his head above the water in the music industry”. “Most young people tend to lose hope at the first failure they encounter but this documentary will let them see the brighter picture of using one’s talent that will help their survival.” “I had soccer skills and managed to keep them to a certain level but I realised that I’m passionate about my voice and I had hope that it would keep me alive. “Now I am proud to say I am not only a celebrated artist but a proud owner of Lefate Entertainment, a company that will enable me to help aspiring artistes reach their musical goals,” Stlofa said. The Mokoari team said the documentary was initially a movie but “some of his stories wouldn’t have been told authentically in a movie, they would be fictional so we opted for a documentary,” Stockmann said. She said the documentary is going to relive Stlofa’s drunken moments until the day he decided to sober-up for the sake of his career.

Stlofa album this week

’Matšei Moloi
MASERU — Molibeli “Stlofa” Mokake, a member of the award-winning musical group Lefate, is set to release his maiden solo album this week.
The dreadlocked artiste — widely regarded as one of Lesotho’s most talented musicians of his generation — has been part of Lefate since 1996, alongside Lephatha “Damario” Tikiso. Together the duo won a national music award in 2007.
But Mokake told the Xpress People on Thursday he would be launching his first solo album entitled  Ha ho Poho Peli  at the Hope Inn in Butha-Buthe on Saturday evening.
Mokake told Xpress People the 13-track album, produced by one Negah, is “modernised Mokorotlo” — albeit still retaining a traditional identity. 
“The album took me just two weeks to produce because I went to the studio ready and raring to go,” Mokake said.
He insisted while his music has become modernised, it still maintained its distinctive, traditional Mokorotlo beat. “The reason why I decided to sing Mokorotlo in the first place was because it is the original Basotho music. I don’t want Mokorotlo, our forefathers’ music, to die. It should live on,” he said.
Stlofa has singled out the title track as his favourite on the album, saying it conveys a personal message.
“Ha ho Poho Peli shows that I’m a strong character. I am the one. It shows that I’m a really capable musician,” he said.
“This is my first solo album after two others with Lefate and I really wanted to prove myself as an individual.”
Mokake maintains the new album did not mean the demise of Lefate, dismissing widespread speculation that the group had disbanded due to personal differences between him and Damario.
“I remain a member of Lefate. Lefate still exists as a group. We have agreed to release an album as Lefate in 2010, but I felt next year would be too late because I was ready and feeling quite hot,” Stlofa explained.
He said people should expect “mass destruction” in Ha ho Poho Peli, insisting the album is “a bomb”.