Wordsmith releases new sounds
JOBURG - In the heart of the city words and rhythm filled the air as poet Mutle Mothibe launched his CD, In_Sense.
A crowd filled the charming Gold Mine Café in the city centre to support Mothibe’s new venture.
Mothibe, who is a member of the poetic trio Inaudible, began his solo project two years ago and although nervous that people would not attend the launch he was surprised that the café was packed. “Oh wow, you came,” he said to the crowd.
Asked to describe what he does the wordsmith said, “I am a spoken word artist. People call me a poet or wordsmith, but I like being called a spoken word artist because it’s less restricted and the artist part is because I fuse my words with other media such as audio visual and also at times I have dancers joining me on stage for my performances.”
Mothibe started writing poetry in Grade 5 about 20 years ago, but he only started sharing his work when he was in Grade 10.
“In tertiary it really took on a larger audience when I joined a group called Inaudible and we started recording audio albums.”
His work has changed over the years since then. “When I started writing it was just for fun and also sharing, but when I got into the Joburg scene I realised that one can actually make a living from selling their poetry and performances.
“I started venturing into theatre and adding more dimension to my artworks. I’ve learned that there are no limits when it comes to my art and it can evolve past the standard poetry sharing of a microphone and reciting memorised poems.”
He added that the art of poetry was about testing boundaries people have set on this art form. “Also to show people that there is a lot of new talent out here with a fresh voice and also with vision for this art to grow to a point where it has a category at the South African Music Awards.”
The title of the album was inspired by his love of incense. “I chose the title In_Sense because, I like burning incense when writing or just when sitting around the house thinking up ideas. I feel that I make the most sense when I write stuff down.
“The poems are well thought out, well-structured and came from having contemplated my inner and outer world. So I merged the concept of Incense with making sense. So In_Sense came about.”
Mothibe said the album had a bit of his old work, but with a new voice and well-produced work from Inaudible Studios. “I hope people take time to listen in on the word play. I really put in a lot of work into hiding little word play treasures and I hope people find them.”
Mothibe sells the CDs himself and people can find him on Facebook.
The artist’s next performance will be on 1 July at WordNSound at the Market Lab 1pm. He performs again on 26 July in Spoken Sessions at Plus 27 Cafe, Pretoria.
Details: 072-066-7232 or follow on twitter @mutle_mothibe
