Lebohang Kgapola talks about why she chose gospel

Lebo has also been selected to showcase at the world-renowned South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Texas, US, next year. The Ingoma Awards nominee, whose love for music began at a young age, has worked with Loyiso Bala and is already sharing the stage with well-known gospel artists such as Bongi & Collin, Elle Tisane, Nqubeko Mbatha, Fani Ntlama, Ntokozo Mbambo, Mabongi and Brian Temba.

Music In Africa caught up with Lebo in Johannesburg to talk about her upcoming performance in the US, the state of gospel music in South Africa and her promising career.

MUSIC IN AFRICA: How do you feel about being selected to perform at SXSW?

LEBOHANG KGAPOLA: I feel like it’s a favour from God to be the first South African gospel artists to perform there. I read and found that AKA also performed at SXSW. I feel like it’s also a huge responsibility, so I need to represent the country well, especially when you are performing in front of an audience that doesn’t know your music at all. So there’s a lot to prove.

Is this going to be your maiden performance outside South Africa?

No, I have been to Uganda, Ghana and Nigeria. I have performed there with US gospel artist Israel Houghton.

Have you done any collaborations with anyone outside South Africa?

Not yet but I am planning to do that. I recorded my DVD on 12 December and there is a Namibian gospel hip hop artist called The Proof that I want to feature on this project. He’s so good, I like his songs so I contacted him and he said it’s fine. Unfortunately recording my DVD was the first project and there wasn’t enough budget to fly him to the country to do the recordings.

What do you consider when you want to collaborate with someone?

First your music must resonate with me. For example, I loved The Proof’s vibe when I watched his videos. Your style and how you represent the gospel also counts. The Proof is young and I am 25. We need a proper representation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If your music is upbeat, nice and relatable then I can collaborate with you.

There are many music genres. Why did you chose gospel?

Gospel for me is an expression of what’s going on inside me. You can’t sing about something that you don’t understand. Gospel music is about God, Jesus Christ and it’s about a personal relationship and who God is to you. So I feel like singing about anything that is not deep within won’t make me able to express myself.

Should gospel artists perform for free?

May I answer your questions with a question? Should I go to the studio and pay R2 000 a day for a session and multiply that with 30 days to record music? It means I will be spending something like R30 000 [$2 200] of my own money to record my music. It’s worse, especially if I do live recordings because there are camera guys and you can’t tell them: ‘I’m doing it for God and let’s do it for free. I have camera guys to pay, lighting guys to pay, the stage guys to pay and the venue to hire.

If a promoter in Cape Town pays your flight and accommodation, would go there to perform for free?

I think even the Bible says that those that work on the altar should share what is offered on the altar. That’s what the scripture says. So if you are a pastor and you are serving in church, you benefit from what is offered on the altar. So the altar is not necessarily a physical place but it’s the stage where I am invited to, so I should benefit from what is offered on that altar. As much as it’s what God called me to do in this ministry, it’s my work and this is what I do on a full-time basis.

Besides music, what else do you do?

I am a full-time artist. I studied communication sciences at UNISA [University of South Africa] but I decided not to work in the communications industry because music was demanding.

If someone offers you a paying job in the communications sector, would you leave music?

No ways, I won’t take it. It’s funny how our parents will be like, ‘Take the office job, it’s safe and you are guaranteed a paycheque every month.’ But when you get inside that office building, you get frustrated because you wish you could have been in the studio recording. So, no I won’t take the job!

Why did you study communication and not music?

I honestly felt like studying music would have made more sense if I was to be a jazz artist where I must be able to read scores. It’s different with gospel music because there are no scores to read. It would have been a waste of money and it has always been my dream of becoming a gospel musician.

There are a lot of voices around you saying: “Are you sure you want to be a musician? What if you don’t make it as a musician?” I then reached a point where I felt like I had to find something to do in case music didn’t work. Besides that, the reason why I studied communication is that I love writing, talking and I could have made a great career through communication science.

Do you think the media is giving enough coverage to young artists like you?

Yes, here I am with Music In Africa. It does actually, we recently got an email from Daily Sun wanting to cover me as a young artist who just recorded her album. I have been on the Expresso TV show as an artist who doesn’t even have an album yet, so I feel like the media does give us an opportunity.

Do you play any musical instruments or do you just sing?

You want to get me in trouble with my manager, Nelson. Nelson has been has been encouraging me to learn the piano but I’m lazy to do that. I like the guitar, so I feel like if I start playing the keyboard, I would be able to play other instruments.

Where do you see yourself in the next five years?

I see myself representing the gospel music industry differently because right now traditional gospel is the biggest in South Africa and my style is contemporary. I see myself as somebody who has broken that. Dr Tumi has done it, he kind of introduced that sound, so I see myself representing the contemporary sound – young, fresh, different and representing the rest of the world.

My other mission is to go back to the community and invest in young artists by conducting workshops that are designed to teach them about worship music and what it means to become a gospel singer.

If you were the South African minister of arts and culture, what changes would you implement?

I feel like the South African music industry and the South African Music Rights Organisation is mainly protecting signed artists yet there are other music professionals like backing vocalists who deserve the most protection. So there should be some protection for backing vocalists because most of them get ripped off. Most backing vocalists often complain that they often don’t get paid for the work they do, so I would look into such aspects if I am given the moment. It’s fortunate that I haven’t gone through the same situation because I have worked with amazing artists.