Bataung Michael Mpota is a 27-year-old from the Kingdom of Lesotho with a keen knack for R&B.
On stage and in the studio, armed with a microphone, his powerful vocals and his pen, this young artist is known as Morena Sway.
Poised to release his debut album tomorrow, the young singer and songwriter draws his inspiration from famed Lesotho musicians from the past mixing this with his eclectic taste in more modern sounds.
“I have been creating music for as long as I remember, at least 15 years. My career has had its ups and downs, but the journey has been amazing.”
Morena says he first was lured in by the joys of music at his mother's home where the sounds of gospel swirled around him, influencing, and forming his approach to the art of music.
“She was very much involved in church, especially the church choir. I grew up around the melodies of the choir and rehearsals and concerts, and fell in love with creating music,” the relaxed crooner recounts,
Morena’s music sits in between old-school R&B with current, innovative Afrobeat sounds, adjacent to what you might expect Tyla to provide you but with a slightly more mature depth about his work.
“I think this has given me a unique signature sound which sets me apart from other artists,” he confidently adds.
Morena gleans inspiration from some Sotho veterans and their vast array of musical accomplishments.
He cites legends like Sankomota, Tsepo Tshola, Bhudaza, Ntate Mantsa, and a host of others.
"Their ability to have touched audiences worldwide is truly astonishing and pushes me to have a global vision for my career.
“I am also driven to make sure that my music has a very identifiable element of the music and culture of Lesotho at the centre of its identity.”
In his young career, Morena has collaborated with well-known and up-and-coming musicians. He linked with DJ Finzo on a record called I Swear. He has also collaborated with many artists from Lesotho including rapper Ntate Stunna.
“There are a lot of artists that I would love to work with. One of the big ones for me is Kwesta. I would love to do a song with him. I have even prepared it for when that opportunity may arise.
“Globally there are also a few artists I would love to find myself able to work with, either producing for or singing with them. Such a wish list includes Burna Boy.
His debut album Lerato comes out on Valentine's Day. A musician releasing a whole album is refreshing in these times of artists releasing singles and peddling these on TikTok and at gigs for an entire year before packaging these offerings into a concise release.
Morena says his debut is coated in love.
“All of the songs are about love – finding love, losing love, and overall, just being in love. Love is the major theme of the album. From a sonic point of view, they [the audience] can expect to dance with Afrobeat taking centre stage in terms of the groove, with sweet vocals and harmonies completing the sonic landscape.”
Creating this anthology was an arduous and emotion-filled journey that took almost an entire year to shape.
There are over 30 songs which were written and recorded for this project. Morena created himself a large pool to pull from in the hopes that this record would represent the best of who he is as an artist.
Given that the project is steeped in the themes of love, and is called Lerato meaning love, it will be released on 14 February, "which is the global recognition day of Love in my opinion."
He’s fairly fresh out with the hopes of a nation in his back but he already has had the pleasure of enjoying numerous unforgettable moments in his career.
“One major milestone was having my debut solo single Sematsatsa do so well on Lesedi FM and Metro FM. It gave me confidence that my sound resonates with people.”
This brother also looks back fondly on his performances at the Cherry Jazz Festival in Ficksburg, Macufein Bloemfontein, and the Lesotho Tourism Festival.
“[Those] have given me the confidence to be able to stand on any stage in the world and perform to the best of my ability knowing people can identify with my music.”
In contrast, being from a small nation doesn’t come with a unique set of pressures for him to break glass ceilings and continue to pave the way for artists from The Kingdom of Lesotho.
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“It has been difficult to break into the music industry as there is not much in the way of infrastructure to breakthrough in the manner that I would have liked.
“I would like to stress that recently, however, this situation is changing with the success of many other artists from Lesotho on a much bigger.”
It took great patience and prayer as the two most important weapons which he used to stay positive and optimistic.
He is also hard at work preparing to shoot the visual treatments for this album.
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“I am working on them at present, and I am truly excited as to the level of quality and the visual representation of my music that the public will soon see.”
Morena has recorded so much great music in the creation of this album and because of that, he intends to release as much music as he can this year.
“People can expect to hear from me right throughout the year with exciting new music. I also hope to perform a significant amount throughout the Southern African region, to bring my music to the ears of diverse listeners throughout the region.”
