The longed Thobane stage collabo
Mompati Tlhankane | Sunday November 19, 2023 06:00
Sixteen years ago, the two talented artists recorded what would later become an instant hit, an infectious classic that at some point got former President Ian Khama on his feet. However, for the longest time, Thobane fans rarely saw the sight of Dr Vom and Ditiro Leero perform the song together on stage largely because the artists had a fallout.
Dr Vom, who is one of the most booked artists especially in cultural events, was hardly ever seen on stage with Ditiro Leero despite the two at times being booked for the same event. While Ditiro Leero had spent some years behind bars, the two never kissed and made up even after the latter’s incarceration. However, these days it seems the two are back on good terms as they recently shared the stage at Ditiro Leero’s one man show on October 28.
It is important to note that before the beef, Ditiro Leero and Dr Vom were, at a point in time, music partners and friends. However, somewhere along the line shortly after Thobane was released, Dr Vom and Ditiro Leero’s friendship turned sour. When Dr Vom released Thobane visuals, Ditiro Leero did not feature anywhere but Zebras fans and Diparo choir.
Some even thought Dr Vom would remake Thobane without Leero’s parts but the Tlhabano hit maker chose to leave it as it is. The beef between the two was so intense that at the time, Ditiro Leero even captured it in his collaboration song with the late Gong Master titled Letlapa. “Reba tlogele ka mahoko re ba ra a re re Dikakapa le Matsieng, le lona bo Dr Vom, le re bakele jaaka tsela e nna noga,” Leero sang in the diss track. Ditiro Leero and Gong Master shared their frustrations in the album titled Makanyane Vol.1 shortly after leaving their groups Matsieng and Dikakapa respectively. But that is all in the past now because Ditiro Leero and Dr Vom have started sharing the stage regularly as seen with their performance at Leero’s one man show in Selokolela.
It was even more memorable this past weekend as Ditiro Leero and Dr Vom shared the big stage once again at Leteisi on Fleek to the delight of the fans. Ditiro Leero had performed in the afternoon but waited for Dr Vom who had been slotted later in the evening. He stayed late to give the fans what they had been missing for close to two decades. Squashing the beef that had come up between them for years, Ditiro Leero and Dr Vom seemed like they had been sharing the stage for years. People picked up tree twigs as is the norm with Dr Vom’s performances and Ditiro Leero impressively understood Thobane fans quite well. Ditiro Leero at some point during the performance chose to do some freestyle to the delight of the fans. Even Ditiro Leero himself could see what an impact Thobane has made on local fans and he could tell what he missed all these years as a result of the beef.
Ditiro Leero is a straightforward artist so he could never perform songs that are not his even if he is featured in them. He never performed Thobane in any of his past performances. During the weekend when fans begged him to perform some Matsieng hits, he uttered, “Le batla go mpolaisa Eric Ramco.” Considering that the long-term tension between 'DT', as the singer is also called by his fans, and Dr Vom severed their relationship and to some extent the enrichment of Thobane performances, the fans hope that this reconciliation is real because Thobane is a timeless classic which is bigger than any previous spat or beef. Thobane is a song which whenever played brings people together, so this time it brought together the makers of the song itself.