Soldiers take up arms in the name of music
A local music group is determined to keep the reggae genre from dying out and recently released an album that will have reggae fans dancing all night
LIMPOPO – Talented group, Reggae Soldiers are determined to keep the spirit of reggae alive, starting in their home-province, Limpopo.
Phillimon Teffo and Piet Tladi hail from Mankweng, Ga-Molepo and they have had to fight to have their music heard. They released a new 10-track album, Life of Today and hope for positive response from the public.
Phillimon says they chose reggae as a genre when they realised it was slowly dying out, deciding they wanted to breathe new life into it with their singing prowess. He explains reggae is a genre which aims to bring a certain message across which makes it unique from house and hip hop, which he explains more often than not promotes nudity, drugs and other negative subjects.
“We started recording Life of Today in 2013 at my own miniature recording studio I made at home after we were inspired by reggae legend, Lucky Dube, to join the reggae family,” he adds.
One of the album’s hit songs is its title track, Life of Today. The song is based on the way young people live their lives these days, a life of drugs, crime and disrespecting their elders.
Although they recorded the album themselves, the crew hopes it will attract the interest of a well-established record label to promote and market their music.
“We will keep chasing our dreams and not allow anything to stand in our way. For the moment we sell our music ourselves on the street but we are certain that one day we will fly the South African flag high on the international stage,” Phillimon says with a confident smile.
The crew was among local artists who entertained guests during the Mapungubwe Arts, Culture and Heritage Festival pre-bash, an opportunity, they add, which enabled them to meet and mingle with the big guns in the music industry.
The positive response they received from their fans at the show encouraged them to work even harder to reach their dream.
Reggae Soldiers encouraged the youth to work hard and to always follow their dreams. Life of Today is available at only R100 and readers can contact Phillimon at 062 9791 098 or 073 6776 702 to get their hands on the hot new album or to book them for a performance.
