“Jazzing” with Lokile

In 1995, the small town of Selibe Phikwe was blessed with the birth of a young Jazz maestro Obolokile Mompoloki also known as Lokile. Some people are born with many talents and Lokile happens to be one of those people. Apart from Jazz, he is also a drummer, keyboardist and actor.

He started his trade as an avid drummer at an early age and in secondary school he took his drumming to another level by picking up another musical skill as a singer and learning the keyboard. Lokile went on to follow his dream of music by studying Sound Engineering at Botswana`s prestigious arts and technology school Limkokwing University. As he was studying in Limkokwing, lokile started to seriously pursue a career as an Afro-jazz artist and began to record his own originally composed music. In 2018 he released a 7 tracks album titled “Lorato Loeto”. He has since been doing live performances at many different venues like Bahumi Lounge, the first Jwaneng

Galaxy Club Live Jazz Festival in 2018 and Limkokwing University. He has also shared shows with other Jazz artists like Nono Siile, Jomo Chawilane and Travor Mabua. In this edition, CW had a chat with the artist about his music.

Can you tell us a bit about your type of music?

Lokile is an artist who ventured into Afro Jazz. My music is written in the mother language and I have an album with seven songs.

What inspired you to choose this particular genre?

I was inspired by a South African Afro Soul artist known as “Presss”. His skills built a tower of interest in interpreting the afro jazz alongside his Afro Soul sounds.

What other genres have you ever ventured into apart from this one?

Other than Afro Jazz I have also ventured into Afro Soul and house music, doing covers.

In your line of music what are the challenges you have encountered?

The first thing would be marketing; the lack of proper marketing has been a big stumbling block due to fewer funds hence less reach of followers. Another challenge is the lack of resources, due to lack of funds we find ourselves in a state where we can’t provide ourselves with the relevant equipment.

Do you ever find resolutions to those challenges?

Yes, my team and I do manage to reach out by utilizing the use of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and others.

We are in a time where many have been affected in their hustles and businesses by the Covid-19 pandemic, how has it affected you and your music?

No income, we are all at our homes with no sources of income due to Covid-19 restrictions and it is sad that the government is also not assisting the Creative Industry at large.

How have you been trying to keep up amid the challenges brought by this corona?

The struggle is real, we are still failing to adapt to the new normal lifestyle since we can’t generate any source of income, we are just putting our trust upon the Lord.

So what are we to expect from you in the near future?

I am currently working on my single, titled Basadi. The single is expected to be released early 2021.