MAG-Tee, the popular Hip Hip artist who hails from Schweizer-Renee has already pocketed a number of awards and nominations for songs such as ‘ Go tla Fela Leng and Tsa Lefatshe’
Mohau Maretele
Schweizer reneke – Rapudi Mafutha, also known by his stage name as Maf-Tee, is a popular musician to the audience of the district of Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati in the North West province. The 28-year-old musician from Schweizer Reneke, specialises mostly in the genre of hip hop with most of his songs done in Setswana.
Mafutha started to realise his talent for rapping in 2008 when he was just a 14-year-old kid in primary school, performing the late Jabulani “HHP” Tsambo’s songs for his classmates.”Before I could notice that I could rap, I remember singing to Jabulani Tsambo’s songs. This amazed many and they thought that those songs were mine”, said Maf-Tee. When asked about what inspired him to get into the brutal industry of music, Mafutha heavily poured the credit on the late Motswako pioneer artist HHP. “HHP was the only artist I could relate to during those days, not because of his popularity, but for the fact that in most of his songs, he was rapping and singing in Setswana. So it became easier for me to understand what he said as I was still a kid at that time.” Maf-Tee, so far, has a couple of songs under his name, having recorded his debut single titled ‘Ke A Ba Bontsa’ in 2013, which he described as an amazement to the people of his community. According to him, the song brought a lot of positivity and people started recognising his talent, in just a short space of time. He admitted that at that time, his newly found fame came with lots of challenges, including being destructed from doing his school work. However, he said he pushed to get used to juggling both his studies and music, until he finished his matric. Maf-Tee went on to release few songs, which pushed him further into the entertainment industry, scoring him interviews with well-known community radio stations in Vryburg, Rustenburg and Schweizer Reneke. “At first it was hard because I didn’t have a recording studio, but I then decided to start my own bedroom studio, which helped me a lot. I have spent 4 years just exploring the world of music, and people showed me love”, added Maf-Tee. On what he believes is the highlight of his music journey, in 2019 Maf-Tee won a music competition in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati district called ‘Breaking An Artist’. Another highlight was when his two songs, ‘Golta Fela Leng’ and ‘Tsa Lefatshe’ got nominations at the 2021 Bokone Bophirima Gospel Music Awards. ‘Golta Fela Leng’, which he recorded with some other local artists, managed to bring them an award in the category of of gospel/rap/poetry song. Being a solo artist, Maf-Tee would like to be remembered as a hard worker and a person who changed the lives of people with his music.
