LOCAL mbira musician Brity Yonly said she is excited about her two collaborations with Botswana’s most talented musicians Slizer, born Naledi Lephoso Kaisara and Charma Gal, born Magadeline Lesolobe.
These collaborations are coming ahead of the June 24 inaugural Jambo Festival, which is being organised by United States-based Charles Mutama, Simon Rambi in Botswana and Malvin Dyoco in Scotland.
Brity Yonly will headline the festival which will be launched in Zimbabwe, Botswana and Scotland in three consecutive months.
Brity Yonly said the collaborations are meant to promote cultural exchange and strengthen relationships among fellow Africans.
“I am doing two collaborations in Botswana, one with Slizer and another with Charma Gal," Yonly said.
"The collaborations are meant to promote the cultural exchange festival and to strengthen our relationships as fellow Africans.
“The song that I am doing with Slizer is titled Jambo, which is a soundtrack for the Jambo Festival.
"It celebrates our culture and traditions as Africans and it will be coming out in August, which is the last month of the Jambo Festival."
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She said her music video with Charma Gal would be dropped on July.
The video features one of Botswana's top dance groups called Ngwao Letshwao.
"The song that I did with Charma Gal talks about single mothers and their importance in society," she said.
“Most people view single mothers in negative ways, they forget what they go through in order to survive and raise the kids.
"Single mothers face discrimination and all sorts of stereotypes. So this song is advocating for them and telling them to be strong.”
Charma Gal told Standard Style that her collaboration with Yonly would strengthen their cultures.
“Cultural exchange in the music industry is important because it unites nations and even different cultures in a way that is educational, creative and fun," she said.
"Cultural exchange is only possible when two different artistes from different cultural backgrounds meet.”
She said their song brings to the fore issues that women across cultures face.
“The role of a woman is the same regardless of culture," she said.
"All women raise children and most of them as single mothers and their responsibility is to make sure that they mold them to become responsible citizens with good personalities.
“Our experiences as women might be different, but our responsibilities do not differ because of culture, even the responsibilities of single mothers are the same honestly.
"The only difference between single mothers might be that one is financially stable and the other one is not but they both have to make sure that they raise children with good personalities, they all want to raise children that they will be proud to call them their own."
The Jambo Festival will celebrate traditional cultural practices and showcase the best of African, Caribbean and diaspora music, dance and arts.
