The Boom Shaka legacy

The Boom Shaka reunion we’ve been waiting for is finally happening. In honour of the group’s 30th anniversary, they will perform their smash hits It’s About Time, Thobela, and Bambanani at the DStv Delicious International Food & Music Festival.

Theo Nhlengethwa, Junior Sokhela, and Thembi Seete have also been in the studio, cooking up new music. In a personal tribute, the trio remembers the sheer brilliance of the late Lebo Mathosa.

Theo Nhlengethwa

It’s been a very interesting journey that I’d describe as freedom of expression. I started as a dancer; I was in the group Magents. We met at this place ran by [DJ and producer] Oskido called Club Arena, in Hillbrow. I was the last member to join Boom Shaka.

Lebo and I used to sing at Mariston Hotel in downtown Joburg. We’d do covers and that’s how we started making money. We sang I’ll Be There by Mariah Carey and Trey Lorenz — I was Lorenz and she was Carey.

I would say 1995 and 1996 were the craziest years for us. I remember we were performing in East London and the hall was so packed that people were hanging from windows. A front-page story said that Boom Shaka had vandalised the building.

My mental health took a huge toll when Lebo died. I was in denial for two years. She passed on the day before we’d planned to meet up and discuss our reunion.

Lebo was very protective of me. During one of our last conversations, we were in a car with a girl I was dating at the time. She looked at her and said, “Take care of this one.” She was very happy in those days and told me that she’d found someone and was in love. We shared a lot.

I felt like I lost a sister. Every time I feel low, I remember her saying, “There is no time for this.” She was driven and didn’t dwell on sad things. She was always pushing for the next thing. She was brave and she wanted to instil that in me.

Thembi Seete

Lebo and I communicated everything in terms of styling. We explored everything under the sun — from hair to clothes, beads, makeup, nails, lashes, and shoes. We had hair secrets for days and some of our hair was created from peculiar materials from Kwa Mai Mai market. There was this super-blonde hair that was so curly, Lebo was obsessed with that. We used very soft goat’s hair to create that hairpiece, and glue for the micro bonding. Then we dyed it. I had it in red, she in blonde — we rocked it at the SA Music Awards (Samas). Lebo was obsessed with blonde, I think she knew that her skin tone was perfect for it. She was born to be an artist.

My signature was always bright and colourful. I rocked anything from yellow to purple and red hair. I was never afraid to try different things. I was exploring, finding this person and who I am. I’m not afraid to explore, try, test, and fail.

Funny thing is, we never won an award as Boom Shaka. But the special moments of opening for international artists made up for it — from Shabba Ranks to Shaggy. We opened for Janet Jackson in 1998 and are doing it again on 21 September.

Meeting Nelson Mandela was special — and him telling us to stop what we were doing after messing around with Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. We opened a lot of sporting events and realised that young people didn’t know the national anthem. We had entered a change as a country and it started with understanding who we are, so we thought, “Let’s bring young people together and teach them in a fun way.”

Before Lebo’s passing, we were getting close once again after having drifted apart. That week, we thought we were going to hang out. An event came up — DJ Chilli M (late Vukani Masinga) had invited Lebo to this Germiston Lake event. Lebo asked me to come; it was a picnic vibe on a Sunday. But I had a very early flight to Cape Town and, after some back-and-forth, decided not to go. On Monday, I got off the flight in Cape Town and went straight to set, as I was shooting a campaign.

My phone started going off. One person would call and then drop the call. The next person would ask if I was ok. Then [TV presenter] Hlomla Dandala called to check on me. My friend, Jabulile Mlotshwa, called me and told me the news. That’s how I found out. A lot of people might have thought it was me in that car, because initially it was reported as being one of the Boom Shaka girls. So, people called me to verify.

I was a zombie, I was finished, I don’t even know how I got to Daveyton from Cape Town.

I miss my sister. I miss my right-hand man. I miss my fighter. I miss someone who would stand up for me. I miss that fire.

Junior Sokhela

I used to be a member of Prophets of Da City (POC). I just wanted to do something different. Lebo was the easiest to convince to join the group. She was a persistent girl, she came to me one day in Hillbrow and said, “I know you from TV, you’re that brother who raps.” I asked her who she was, she said “I’m Lebo. I’m a dancer and singer. I want you to put me on TV also.” She was bubbly and lively, and I never forgot her.

When I was working on Boom Shaka, I did two songs in which I needed to feature a woman. [Record producer] Don Laka and Oskido suggested that I use Sharon Dee. I found Lebo and asked her to be part of this project.

We then did Love’s Taken Over and Hey-Hey-Hey, which are two reggae songs. After that we released the album. I went back to the UK with POC. When we came back in 1994, we started doing shows. Lebo was alone and bored, because I was always chilling with my rasta friends. So, she suggested that she bring her friend Thembi. Then Theo came in and it just grew, it automatically became a group.

It’s About Time was mostly freestyle; I had this instrumental that I got from DJ Christos that I started playing around with. I composed Lebo’s part first because I had that melody in my head. I wrote Thobela when I was in Yeoville and Lebo was living next door to me. Oskido brought the instrumental to me and we were jamming. It took me an hour to write Thobela. When we were recording it at Kalawa they decided we should have Thebe do some ad libs on top.

Lebo was a hard worker and she loved music with her whole heart. When I was writing music, I would write for Lebo’s voice. When you are in the army, you have your generals — Lebo was that. Her first solo album she did with me. At the time she recorded her debut album, we had issues as a group, which made Lebo very unhappy. She felt like she was working too hard for people who did not appreciate her. We had issues with our record label. We were at a crossroads, where we felt people were just using us.

Lebo was a big part of the group. That voice is greatly missed and needed. As we record new music, we will try to manoeuvre around it.