Ronnie - Botswana's YouTube superstar

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Friday November 26, 2010 00:00

 

Today dishing out folklore music is no longer the preserve of RB and its famed journalists.  Enthusiastic folklore lovers are going around the country videotaping interesting guitarists and uploading their songs on YouTube for the enjoyment of today's YouTube generation.

Ronnie of Kopong village, Kweneng District, has become an instant hit on YouTube and his close to a million followers around the world are convinced the folklore player is in a class of his own as he is shown playing his guitar arrogantly and passionately with elbows, knuckles, the outside of his hands, and sometimes beating its strings with fingers as if it were drums, to produce those unique melodies that only Ronnie can extract from his seemingly worn out guitar, or katara, as it is called in Setswana.

At first sight Ronnie, the new folklore music celebrity, does not cut a face of a superstar.  In his YouTube videos the guitarist from Kopong, an hour's drive from Gaborone, comes across as one shabby herdsman, bandanna around his head, a cheap cap, and overalls.

He also improvises with goggles used by wielders to protect their eyes from heavy electric sparks produced by their wielding machines.

Ronnie is also videotaped playing his songs in extremely rural settings; sometimes in a cattle kraal, leaning against the kraal, or seated on a stool outside a rural house as he belts out his melodious tunes.

Botswana has a new folklore music superstar on the Internet.  Little-known folk music player, guitarist Ronnie, is enjoying amazing attention on YouTube as the world clicks on to view the lad's amazing skills.

Thanks to a dedicated folk music collector, known only as Bokete7, Ronnie today has 20 videos on YouTube.  This does not include collaboration songs with his brother, KB, or his quartet or three-some, all uploaded by the same man, Bokete 7.

But it is Ronnie's song, Happy New Year, uploaded on December 31 last year that has attracted an incredible, 410, 047 viewership since it was uploaded on YouTube.

Compare this to Botswana's most successful music group, Culture Spears.  Their Kulenyane video has slightly over 83, 000 views, yet it was loaded several years ago.  Ronnie in this song (Happy New Year) seems to mesmerise his Internet fans with his finger play on the guitar as he uses his own bizarre skills to produce some wicked tunes. 

He is caught using almost every part of the arm to manoeuvre through his guitar, including the elbow, the knuckles, the outside of his hand, or sometimes he beats the strings stylishly with his fingers, as if he is beating the drums! Of interest to followers of Botswana folklore music is that Ronnie is featured as the composer of the now popular folklore song popularised by another guitarist Solly Sebotso, which made him the winner at this year's Heritage Month Awards.

The song Pidipidi took Sebotso, two-time winner in the folklore category, to new heights of popularity after he performed it with gusto in July this year at the folklore music finals. However YouTube indicate that Ronnie's Pidipidi was uploaded last year.

What is also interesting is the fact that Ronnie's Pidipidi sounds just the same as Sebotso's 2010 winner, although the Kopong man does not mimic the hissing sounds of the Pidipidi like Sebotso amazingly did at the finals.

In the song, the player uses a duck's journey to find water, to showcase his knowledge of Gaborone as he discusses the terrains of Old Naledi location and the beauty of Gaborone Dam, which also lies there.

The question now is who is the legitimate owner of the song, between the two Kweneng folklore music legends?  Interestingly, the collector of this music, who has also recorded and uploaded Sebotso's music on YouTube, does not feature Sebotso performing Pidipidi.  Instead the only other person who performs a different version of the same song is KB, who happens to be Ronnie's brother.  On YouTube, Ronnie's Pidipidi has been viewed by over 11 000 fans, but his brother, KB's version of the same song has been viewed by over 28 000 fans.

Ronnie's tribute to South African music legend, Mahlathini has had an impressive 32 905 views on YouTube as well, while his other YouTube hit, Ditsala Tsame Di Tsamaile, where he is paying tribute to his departed friends has attracted 28 484 views since it was uploaded a year ago, with yet another composition, Mona Ke Yole, has had 16 528 views so far, since it was uploaded last year.

He has also composed a political song on troubles in Zimbabwe.

Itshoke Tsvangirai (persevere Tsvangirai), he urges the MDC leader, who has been brutally beaten up by ZANU-PF in the run-up to the last bloody Zimbabwe elections, to not lose hope despite the difficulties.

This song has been heard on Radio Botswana's folk music programme before.  However, on YouTube, it has attracted slightly over 6 000 views.

It would seem the collector of Ronnie's folklore music has also realised the high demand for the man's musical offering on YouTube, as he keeps on adding more and more of Ronnie's compositions.

On Tuesday this week, the latest installment of Ronnie's musical supply was three days old and had already been viewed by about 200 fans.