Kaone Letshabo aka Jembesoul DHLA innerview

If you don’t know about Jembesoul, you’re about to...

 the Botswana born & bred has been exposed to the ubiquitous sounds of jazz & kwaito from an early age, as young  as he is, one can only imagine him with the oldies Van Tuka Af Jazz look or the pantsula culture that rocked the nations back then.

An avid fan of music: went a great length in honing his passion for music & acquire more knowledge as a DJ/producer, trying out for the for the Red Bull Music Academy Competition which played a role in landing a release on Global Diplomacy Productions, before we knew it, we are dancing to “Sunny Day” with stunning Mouzai vocals.

DHLA: Hola, please introduce yourself to the DHLA family

JS: Hi good people, I was registered Kaone Letshabo a not so long time ago with the government, fell in love with music & started DJ’ing & that’s how (within myself) met Jembesoul. Now here we are!

DHLA: Jembesoul has a nice ring to it, what is behind that name?

JS: In all honesty, everything regarding the name, dates to early 2000’s,when I came across the djembe breaks in the Africanism All Stars music.

So, this one time in Drama class, I got to play the djembe drum, realizing the varied sounds it produced when you press down on the leather cover & bang on different spots. I figured, oh cool, my love for a lot of genres resonates with this…soooo, I have the soul of a djembe…so yea!!

DHLA: I think we should actually talk about how you started all this – You have probably told this story a thousand times – But the way you got into the scene is greatly interesting…

JS: First thing first, sending out love & thoughts to the late DJ Bass (Tebogo Maribeng),I grew up with his brother Botho & nephew Thabo, in the beautiful town of Lobatse. From that young age, it was the first exposure to passion & dedication (used to see him pull out crates of vinyl to rehearse), as I already had the love for music. So this gave me thought back in 2000 that DJ’ing could be the medium to express my love for music & art. May his soul rest in peace.

Fast forward 2005/2006,I moved to Ennerdale, Johannesburg with my Aunt & this was an eye opener, with the amount of love & level of consumption of music in the country, it was something I had not seen before, esp. that I had not travelled a lot .Made friends,& from these friends I made a very core foundation to what I know. & looking back, I realised that, to myself ,I always emphasized the need & importance to learn & understand what i wanted to be a part of, the music community. So what I did, I took up roles in many opportunities that availed themselves, depending on how much I believed in them, in regards to growth.

Around late 2010/early 2011, I was introduced to a talented duo of producers Glamour VS (Vuvu & Smarts) to push their singles & try to get their music across the border, music submission to radio & connecting them as they geared up for the release of their debut album & also contributing to Shota’s album that came out in 2012 with “Uyanhlanyisa”. I got their music here at home before then, at Yarona FM they liked the music, but improper publishing references & all. And all these were lessons to me (to read about music publishing, copyright laws, what signing a song to a record label means etc).

While in that scheme of things, I connected with Colastraw, he had just released an album & I became a salesman for his T-Shirts with a slogan (TRUE PLAYERS: I Only Cheat My Girlfriend With House Music), that was such an important point because I sold to House/Music heads, or producers or someone who was doing something in the scene & connected .So from there for many years I harnessed my love for the music by attending shows, connecting & learning more of how the community really works.

So from such odd jobs & responsibilities, I got attached to the movement, I found clarity with what I was clueless about & I knew perfectly, what information I needed to accumulate to kind of build what I want or wanted. So I became ‘a servant in exchange for the knowledge’.

DHLA: It’s vividly clear that House music has taken control in major parts of your life, what inspired you to explore more of the sound?

JS: It’s a spiritual thing lol. Simple....

The sound has grown & reached many over the years with the boom in social platforms & a bit of travels exposed me to different sounds & how different places & spaces have explored the sound.
Having visited the Paris 2014 & the musically rich city of Ghent in Belgium, having conversations with record store owners, showed how diverse the sound is & with that it fed my curiosity.

DHLA: How important is education to you as a Deejay and Producer?

JS: Its pivotal to every human being, it gives you an opportunity at the table, to have an opinion, with your art-istry & decisions.
But, it’s more important to know why & what you are learning for, how you are going to use that information after you accumulate it.

As one ascends, you meet new challenges/opportunities that without the right knowledge it may hamper your progress.

DHLA: What have been your best highlights so far?

JS: The past 3 years, releasing ‘Sunny Day’ Feat Mouzai on Global Diplomacy Productions, having a remix for one of my favorite bands Round Shaped Triangles, working with my mentor Andy to grow SouthRing Records, doing Content & Copywriting for the Sub_Urban Label (Spain) taught me a lot about the processes of a label & it’s a day to day business, headlining the Naked Soul Sessions & mostly deciding to work on an EP project, which presents growth in itself.

DHLA: Mentorship; what has your mentor imparted within you?

JS: Priceless wisdom, that seems to never to run out. One thing that resonates with me most always is, “Never be afraid to tell people you don’t know but you want to know”.

Because we live in a an era where if you don’t know something, it is viewed as being un-cool we lose so much opportunity of knowing by wanting to be viewed as “cool” & that opportunity evades us.

So taking those studio sittings with him, watching him do his, I got to ask the right questions & got the ball rolling & it’s exciting that there is so much awaiting me to know,& for all that I’m thankful always

Continues...