Go festive ntate - go kgweetswa nkuku!
Keletso Thobega | Friday December 20, 2013 12:10
Whoever penned it is in touch with reality as it accurately reflects relationships in our social landscape, and is lyrically rich because the creative use of Setswana language and metaphor in the song is intriguing. For those not familiar with it, the song narrates the sexual experiences of a young man who is having an affair with an older woman. I take it the woman’s partner has passed away hence he says: Loso la monnamogolo yole le nthusitse (I’m grateful for the passing away of that man). The song’s hook line goes something like: Ka kgweetsa nkuku (which means I rode that old woman).
The young man enjoyed his frolics with the woman, who seemingly kept him up all night when they had a roll in the hay. Older woman and younger man relations are becoming common nowadays, so the song is relevant to our times. Apparently older women are more sexually experienced and hygienic than their younger counterparts, who have not amassed enough knowledge on sexual satisfaction or keeping intimately clean and attractive...You know, creating their own moroto wa tshwene...
I want to touch on perception considering that this song has been met with mixed feelings by some Batswana who have claimed that this song: e bua dilo tse di maswe! That it’s demeaning to women and encourages “immoral” behaviour. Many women disrespect themselves as it is and a great number of people are immoral – should that not be reflected as shenanigans that transpire within our society? Funnily enough, we dance to American songs that call women ‘bitches’ and ‘sluts’, and talk about getting girls into their “birthday suites”, with gents flossing that they have ‘hoes’ in every area code!
Should we shy away from playing around with our language and regaling happenings in our society because some people easily get offended and are quick to pick vulgarity? Whenever a song or writing that has language or detailing we are uncomfortable with, we say it’s “controversial” but what do we touch on and what do we leave out in tackling or reflecting issues in our society? As a storyteller/writer who enjoys boldly pushing boundaries through writing, I’ve observed that some people who have made effort to engage me personally are often disappointed to realize that I’m not the idea they had in their minds, by virtue of the opinions I present.
And that’s what sets most writers, bloggers or artists etc apart – the ability to reflect matters they haven’t always experienced. One of my first satirical blog entries a few months ago was titled ‘I also want a le-14’ which also explored relationships between older women and younger men; how it seems to be fashionable to have a toy boy. I was amused by reaction to that article – it accurately reflected different people’s mindsets. While some appreciated the use of cheeky sarcasm and imaginative satire, there were people who genuinely believed that I was looking for a le-14!
I recall my university poetry group once had a fierce debate with one quarter adamant that you cannot write about what you have never experienced, while another maintained that it was what sets ‘artists’ and ‘creative types’ apart; their ability to acutely reflect societal realities, experiences which aren’t necessarily that of self. One gentleman stood up and exclaimed: ‘Do I as a man have to wear make-up to know that make-up messes up women’s skin?!’ That summed it up. He doesn’t have to. He can see it because most women who regularly use make-up have horrible skin and reach a point where they don’t look good without it! Artists utilize all six senses – not everything is inspired by personal experience. One of the roles of the artist – whether musician, writer, painter, singer, dancer etc – is to reflect society, capture different emotions, realities and mentalities. As a society, we tend to be common-thinking because we want to create a polarized view of reality.
Whether we want to accept it or not, such things happen and over the holidays when people engage in mindless debauchery in keeping with the tjatjarag festive excitement, there’ll be a lot of sexual engagements, most of which will be inter-generational. Young girls will be gyrating for old men and young men will be mounting women with wide hips and fleshy thighs, plunging themselves into their warmth for sexual enjoyment exchange for monetary gifts. Ee, ba tla bo ba kgweetsa nkuku!