Black Motion answers the call of the ancestors
The duo say they heal people through their thumping, traditional-based music
POLOKWANE – Multi-award winning dance house duo recently released their fourth studio album Ya Badimo, and the official first single, Omo Dudu, featuring UK-based, Nigerian vocalist, Wunmi has been well received.
The group, consisting of the Soshanguve-raised and multi-talented Thabo ‘Smol’ Mabogwane and Bongani ‘Murdah’ Mohosana, explained what their hit single, and the new album, is about.
“There are still children today who think black is associated with being dull and nothing positive or progressive. Wunmi says black will always shine. “Our music consists of drums and our spiritual beliefs and we have linked our journey in the music industry to that of a traditional healer undergoing training,” says Mabogwane.
He says the album is a 13-track offering that builds on the narrative they started unfolding in 2010. “The common thread in the story of our career is the fact that Black Motion sees itself as a musical traditional healer. With this in mind, our debut album in 2012, Talking to the Drums, became the first chapter. Here, we had to acknowledge the calling that you get from the ancestors and they call you with the drums. So we asked the drums to show us the way and people accepted music from us as a true calling,” he said.
We are honouring the ancestors and what they have done for us. In a traditional healer’s world, this would be the stage where you are able to heal people. It’s as if we’re graduating from initiation. So this album is our offering to the gods,” he said.
As a group that is known for its energetic, almost trance-inducing performances, the gold-selling Black Motion believes it will keep on telling its story through purpose-driven music. We know that in the Western world, traditional healers are associated with voodoo but that’s not it, we want to heal people through music,” he said.
