Culture Spears wrangle over Kulenyane unresolved

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Tuesday December 23, 2008 00:00

 

Culture Spears' top man, and also lead vocalist in the hit song, Kabelo Mogwe, says although they have had two meetings with the South African copyright Association, NISA, nothing conclusive has been reached.

'We have also met Bujo-Mujo DJs.
'They have been apologetic. They said they are willing to compensate us if we can agree on a fee, but it was nothing conclusive. At the end we reached a gentlemen's agreement that this matter should not be allowed to disturb both Bujo-Mujo's projects and us.
'We will meet after the festive season.

We realised it is also a very busy time for us. The whole of October we were fully booked, and right now we are busy promoting our new album throughout the festive period,' Mogwe added.

The lead vocalist, who celebrated his 26th birthday on Sunday, said the copyright matter has opened their eyes as a traditional music group.
'We will now start to study more about each and every song that we compose. We added a new melody and new lyrics into Kulenyane the traditional song, and Bujo Mujo acknowledge they were inspired by our recording.

'But other Batswana tribes in the north and the south of the country have lately been claiming on radio that Kulenyane is their song. So in future, the issue of origin will be handled thoroughly,' Mogwe promised.

'We never allow controversy to hold us down. When we first entered the market, we were cheated by a number of promoters, but we did not let that dampen our spirits. We continued with our performances as we sorted out the mess. That is exactly what we are doing now,' Mogwe concluded.