Artist shares family’s loss through song
He has released many other songs in the past, but this was the first he had written about the death of a family member.
As a way to express his loss, a young local aspiring artist, Ripfumelo Mashele, aka Supreme The Kid, wrote a song dedicated to Tebogo Mabunda who was allegedly killed by her husband, Mugiyo Ulrich Mabunda.
The song is titled “12 Bullets” and the family plays it as a way to honour her memory. Tebogo was shot and killed outside her house in Stonehenge in May last year and the trial is being heard in the Mpumalanga High Court.
The 19-year-old said the deceased was his cousin and the news of her passing broke him.”I was inspired to write the song because of my pain and the pain her kids are going through due to her death; it really hurt me as I knew what a huge influence it had on her kids. It broke them therefore it broke me too. She was an inspiration to all of us and led us by example,” Ripfumelo explained.
In the song he talks about how her death caught him off guard and he refers to her as an angel who looks over them from heaven. According him, things will never be the same without his cousin because of the role she played in the family and he would like to have one last conversation with her.
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“On my birthday, May 28, 2020, I decided to release this song. The single soothed my heart and telling stories through music is all I know. We all deal with pain and loss in our own way and this was mine. “Looking at the feedback I got from people, the song has served its purpose because the whole point was for people to listen to the pain that my family and I felt. I really appreciate everyone’s feedback and it made me realise that I had made an impact,” he explained. The song is available on Soundcloud.
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Ripfumelo is a grade 12 pupil at Lowveld High School. He has released many other songs in the past, but this was the first he had written about the death of a family member. The murder trial will continue on November 2.
