Infinite boudaries...

Source : Kutlwano

Author : Calviniah Kgautlhe

Location : Gaborone

Event : Interview

A soulful escape into the world of music is what ‘Transition` offers through talented 2004 Gabz Karaoke Idols winner, Samantha Mogwe`s velvety voice.

With her beautiful Neo Soul-R&B genre, she breaks the infinite boundaries with her subtle yet soothing tunes. To her legion of fans, a memory of her remains etched somewhere when she set the stage ablaze with her electrifying rendition of Alicia Keys` ‘Falling` and Pink`s ‘Family Potrait` displaying sheer singing talent in her teens.

The beautiful 25-year old just dropped a hot single - Transition - in July which has been topping the charts from her yet to be released debut album - Transitions.

“Brace yourself for Samantha Mogwe`s 12-track debut album which will be released soon, there are still pending office logistics which we are yet to finalise, once they are done, we are on!” says Samantha`s publicity manager, Tlamelo.

Honouring Kutlwano`s invitation, the youthful songbird poped into the newsroom on a hot afternoon dressed in casual fashionable royal blue blouse and ‘myboyfriend`s` geans, with gold brown sunglasses on her striking flawless complexion.

“Transition was produced in Botswana by Batswana producers, Favi, Tshepo Lesole, B-Note, Monde, and Joe Tanyala, it means different points of life, it`s a life`s journey, it`s about life being unpredictable, with all its ups and downs, and that`s what makes life interesting,” she says excitedly.

 “Ke Mongwaekets but I was born in Serowe, and my passion for music started at a very tender age. I remember my dad loved music, he used to collect all sorts of music cassettes and records. I used to dance to the likes of Brenda Fassie, Madonna, Michael Bolton. I listened and danced to anything really. I remember I used to be invited by neighbours to sing for them when I was six but when I grew up I became shy and stopped singing at 13 years.”

Samantha tells Kutlwano that she decided to forget about singing but as fate would have it, a friend of hers forced her to join My African Dream Talent Show two years down the line where their collaboration landed them second place in the competition.

“Since then my passion was reignited and I became a regular at Exodus Live Poets where we used to sing and at the same time I did not forget about school.”
Samantha says her passion for music was fueled by her strong family support structure and other people in her radar who keep her on check and push her far beyond. 

And after college, Samantha would later go to Monash University to study Business Marketing in South Africa, a course she later dropped because she was not satisfied and settled for a Bachelor`s Degree in Theology from Baptist Theological College in South Africa.

“Because I dropped the Business Marketing course, I now had to pay from my pocket and I took a part-time job to finance my education, it was really tough, sleepless nights and this experience alone taught me that in life you sweat for anything you want to achieve, and the way I got my degree taught me to be grounded.”

Meanwhile, she kept her music going.  Samantha who has shared stage with international R&B music icon, Joe Thomas, says when writing her music, she uses her experience and avidly listens to other people`s experiences as they shape her too.

“I have been through hardships but I always say they should serve as a stepping stone for me...what I went through, me dropping marketing course and having to pay my tuition, losing my uncle, my number one music fan and other things, I say if you are meant to do something, things will just fall into place no matter what,” says Samantha.

“From a tender age I have always believed I want to be satisfied with my life, in life you live once, do what you can to the best of your ability.” Ends

Teaser:

Samantha lost her uncle who was her number one fan and always encouraged her to become a better artist.  She stayed in studio for about a month failing to produce anything because she was grieving.   Finally her manager told her to put her grieving emotions on paper and that was the birth of Transition which set airwaves ablaze!