22 June 2016
Musician Refentse Morake was discovered giving Afrikaans pop music a unique
African flavour on the streets on Vereeniging in 2015 by Cecilia Marchionna. She
uploaded a video of his performance on to Facebook and it soon become one of
most shared videos in South Africa.
With more than 120 000 video views, plus a stage debut at one of the
country's leading music festivals under his belt already, Morake has now released
his first album of Afrikaans songs.
Titled My Hart Bly In 'n Taal, the album features his versions of
modern South African pop classics, including Johannes Kerkorrel's Halala
Afrika, Koos Kombuis's Bicycle Sonder 'n Slot
and a Laurika
Rauch medley. Among his other performances not on the album but available to
view on YouTube are Karen Zoid's Toe Vind Ek Jou and Jan Blohm's
Breyten se Brief.
Zoid, one of South Africa's most popular musicians, is a big Morake fan. She
asked him to perform with her at the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees, the annual
arts festival in Oudtshoorn, in 2015. She also helped in the recording of his album,
which is currently the fourth best-selling album on the iTunes local music charts.
A true South African, Morake also enjoys kwaito and Zulu gospel music, which
he hopes to incorporate with Afrikaans music on a grander scale with his second
album. His aim is to bring the diverse South African cultures together through the
power of music.
While he is excited about the interest in his music,
Morake, who matriculated in
2015, is taking fame in his stride. He has chosen rather to study for his law degree
at North West University before he takes his music on the road full-time.
Source: News24/Netwerk24
