Mo’Kreste Kabo Katse (+267) 7556-9972 kabokatse116@gmail.com Facebook: Mo’Kreste X-Caliber Bookings: xcbookings@gmail.com

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INFLUENCE

Mo’kreste’s love for music, particularly hip-hop and kwaito, goes back to when he was just a little boy. He used to jam to Msawawa and Mzambia, both South African artists that specialised in kwaito music. In fact, he was largely influenced and inspired by South African artists. An opportunity he regarded not to be missed came his way: watching Msawawa perform live in Botswana. Fortunately, he managed to convince his mother to allow him to go watch Msawawa’s show. It was in 1999 that he was introduced to hip-hop, and he fell in love with it at a heart’s beat. He vividly recalls his uncle jamming to TuPac’s songs; not too long thereafter, he heard the sounds of Ice Cube and Dr. Dre. Soon enough, he was determined that he wanted to sing kwaito, which then led him to start writing kwaito music. South African artists such as TKZee, Zola, Bricks, and Mapaputsi kept his flame blazing for the genre. Eventually, he began appreciating local music. Artists such as Mapetla, Vee, Eskimos and T-Joint (now only T.H.A.B.O) caught his attention.

When he was in Std. 4, life took a different turn. He moved to Tlokweng - a completely different setup altogether. The family he lived with only listened to Gospel music. He was now listening to the likes of Joyous Celebration, Keke, Benjamin Dube, etc.

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Around the time that Kabo got to Junior School, something incredible occurred: he was introduced to the interlocking of hip-hop and kwaito by artists such as Third Mind. It was around then that he “gave his life” to hip-hop.

He knew without a shadow of a doubt that he wanted to be a rapper. He got involved in battle-rapping, with a lot of his lyrical content being influenced by Botswana artist Mapetla.

He would also listen to Drake, Lil’ Wayne, and N.A.S, among others. It was during this time that he also began embracing the music of Hip Hop Pantsula, aka Jabba. He would attend H.H.P’s shows, called Booster Bashes, with evident excitement.

“One day I would like to see myself rapping to a live band.”

- Kabo as young boy during H.H.P’s Booster Bashes

BACKGROUND

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MUSICAL CAREER

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Even though Kabo knew he wanted to do music while he was still at a young age, at the time there was no one to discover his talent, combined with having a low self-esteem what with being from the township. One day Kabo braved it out and passed by B.K. Proctor’s Studio when he was just in Form 3 on his way from collecting his Identity Document. He wanted to find out the rates for studio time. The guys he found there told him to go back to school and complete his education because he’s “just a kid.” Determined not to let the rejection put him down, he was even more inspired to push harder and do well.

While in Senior School, he and a close friend of his started getting instrumentals from the internet and recording tracks.

KABO THE GANGSTER

Growing up in the township caused him to want to be identified as a gangster. He got introduced to elements of a typical life in the ghetto: drugs, alcohol, sexual immorality, theft, etc. He desired a better life but got involved in iniquitous activities to attain it.

It was a crush on a Christian girl he attended school with that led him to his way of life. The girl told him if he wanted to be with her, he’d have to give his life to Christ Jesus. Determined to stop at nothing, he visited their Scripture Union. It was there that he learned of the magnificent and unconditional love of Christ Jesus and ultimately dedicated his life to Him.

Soon after salvation he was introduced to gospel rappers such as Lecrae, S.O., Da Truth, and Ambassador. In 2011 he attended a show by the 116 Clique when they were on the Unashamed Tour. X-Caliber, a local Christian group, was performing alongside the 116 crew.

X-CALIBER

Kabo, who at the time went by “Christian Boy”, started hanging out with Patrick, leader of XC. He got the opportunity to feature on a few X-Caliber tracks. Soon after in September 2012 he joined the group and became the 6th and final member.

A week later the group traveled to Cape Town for the AfroFest Gospel Festival – the biggest stage he had ever been on. He met a number of prominent artists such as Pompi and Abel Chungu from Zambia, and LC from Zimbabwe. After the event, the group drove to Jo’burg for another event where they recorded their second album and shot some music videos. One of his musical career highlights was in March 2013 when he shared the stage alongside his favourite rapper, S.O. It turned out to be a bittersweet time as it was during the same week that he lost a close friend of his, Tsogo, to leukemia. C

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SKHOKHO

Towards the end of 2015 Mo’kreste went on a deep and self-introspective journey. He realised that he had lost his footing and had need for re-centering. It was through this that his first debut, S’khokho, was birthed.

The main thought behind the track is that one can easily forget that what they’re doing is for Christ Jesus. Soon after writing S’khokho, he quit his job and answered God’s called in to full time ministry.

The track can be found on SoundCloud via this link: http://www.datafilehost.com/d/06231e5c

The full story behind Skhokho can be found on YouTube on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTcNaX9yp7c&feature=youtu.be

“S’khokho se 1, re rata poko, re sure ka nnoto!” - Mokreste

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