Gami ft Xipanere ‘Babalaas’ – story behind the song

Ntsako Mabunda

LIMPOPO – Nitu Xipanere Mathebula is the vocalist in DJ Gami Swaga’s Babalaas, which recently won Best Xitsonga House at Munghana Lonene FM’s Xitsonga Music Awards.

Mathebula who originally migrated to South Africa from Mozambique never imagined he would be a musician or have award-winning hits.

In Nkowankowa near Tzaneen where he now resides, a friend of his taught him to play the guitar… this led him to meet DJ Gami who helped him realise his dream of making it as a professional musician.

Speaking of the hit Babalaas Mathebula said: “I noted a common complaint among people on Mondays. This sparked an idea for a song, which I shared with DJ Gami.

“Together we decided that Mondays needed an anthem – and thus Babalaas was born”.

Babalaas, a track on DJ Gami’s album, Le Nkompon 1, is a song that talks about a woman who wants to leave her children with her husband to go partying, but he refuses to be left behind. It is a fun, tongue-in-cheek dance song that celebrates Africa.

The song leads with a strong drum beat accompanied by the guitar. It has a classic old-school nostalgia sung in colloquial Mozambican Xitsonga in a call-and-response manner. It also invokes a strong Sophiatown and kwasa-kwasa feel with a saxophone, which complements the live instruments.

Radio and house music deejay, DJ Brian, said the song has an authentic sound. “The live instruments on the song make it more interesting. When I play it, people dance from start to finish. It’s a classic, I must say. I hope DJ Gami has now found his sound,” he added.

Although they did not expect to walk away with the award, both Mathebula and DJ Gami credit weeks of hard work as well as the contribution of their guitarist, Shapiro Moyo, for the song’s huge success.