Rapper Mega Hertz and Mofaya lesotho CEO Gifted jack
Mohalenyane Phakela
ENERGY drink Mofaya Lesotho’s brand ambassador and artiste Mega Hertz says the company’s December music festival will go a long way in uplifting the status of local musicians who have always played second fiddle to their South African counterparts.
Slated for December 3, the festival will be held at Maseru Mall under the tagline #Mega10k_Challenge and it seeks to attract at least 10 000 music lovers in support their favourite local acts.
In a breakfast meeting with media representatives on Tuesday, Mofaya Lesotho CEO, Jack “Gifted Jack” Mhlambi said it was high time Basotho started believing in their own.
“We want to expose the talent that this country has to the rest of the world so that it can be ‘Lesotho to the world and not to South Africa’,” Mhlambi said.
“For Basotho to believe or support something, it has to be imported whereas they are sitting on a gold mine of unsupported local acts.
“Through this event we seek to change the view that for a show to be successful it has to be headlined by South African acts. We are hopeful that this will encourage Basotho not to take talented people for granted,” he said.
Gifted Jack added the initiative will instill confidence in local artistes and position the country on the global stage.
“Artistes don’t have hope for a better future as they are often criticised with some questioning where they think their talents will take them.
“We are embarking on a big campaign to increase the appeal of Basotho artistes by instilling in them confidence and patriotism so they stop believing they can only get a better life in South Africa.
“We’re looking at rappers, vocalists, poets, dancers and deejays but we will have to choose the best that as the aim is to go beyond the border,” he said.
Gifted Jack also said their ongoing national tour which started in Qacha’s Nek and Quthing on Friday and Saturday respectively, would soon be taking them to Thaba Tseka (September 16) and Mokhotlong (17 September). Headlined by Mega Hertz, the tour will continue till the main event in December.
“Mofaya’s vision is to see to people’s talents taking them places and so after the Mega10k, we will invade other countries starting with South Africa,” he said.
For his part, Mega Hertz expressed gratitude to Mofaya Lesotho for enabling him to fulfil what had seemed a farfetched dream.
“I had this dream when I entered the music scene last year and it was one of those crazy thoughts that seemed far from seeing the light of day,” Mega Hertz said.
“I didn’t know the right people to approach but Gifted Jack believed in me and we’re going to make it happen. Basotho often celebrate South African milestones rather than focusing on building their own monuments. This project is not going to be a once-off event but will continue for a very long time,” he said.