Morena Leraba sings of “Finding strength and courage... death and living with the memory of loved ones”

While it hardly seems possible, the February release of Morena Leraba’s EP Fela sa Ha Mojela will be the first recording from the Lesotho artist. Over the past eight years, he’s frequently surfaced on the global music scene – as a mesmerising live performer at festivals and as a sought-after collaborator, appearing on ‘Johannesburg’ off Damon Albarn’s Africa Express record EGOLI, as well as on BLK JKS’ excellent but overlooked 2019 single ‘Harare’ and music by, among others, Major Lazer (US), Kashaka (US), Mawimbi (France) and Lua Preta (Poland/Angola).

But the five-track EP is the very first time Morena Leraba has released a solo project that captures what he refers to as a “remodelled” Lesotho sound: a soundscape rooted in the landlocked country’s Famo music – created a century ago by Basotho migrant mine workers in South Africa – but that also travels through electronica, dub, melodic hip-hop and psychedelia.

Actually, solo is not strictly true: Morena Leraba is both a musician – real name Teboho Mochaoa – and a band, with Fela sa Ha Mojela recorded with Thamsanqa Ngwenya (marimba and backing vocals), Molefi Makananise (bass), Bronwen Clacherty (percussion and uhadi, a bowed instrument) and Steve Hogg (synths and production).

For Morena Leraba, the EP’s release comes as a relief. “We can finally answer all those people who’d come up to us after a show and ask where they can find our music.” The many years of performing also meant many songs to choose from. “We went back to this big bag of ideas and picked five to polish,” says the artist of the songs on Fela sa Ha Mojela (song or poem of Ha Mojela).

Though now frequently in Europe, with a slate of shows in 2022, Morena Leraba sees himself as an emissary of Lesotho’s shepherd community, bringing the Sesotho language, the idioms, the stories of those who cross borders for work, often without passports or permission, to audiences globally. His connection to Lesotho’s shepherd community – powerfully transmitted by his stage attire – is no affectation: like most young men in the country, he grew up herding sheep in his home district of Mafeteng, south of Lesotho's capital city Maseru.

As his experience of the world widened – first to Johannesburg for university and then Europe – his homeward journey in the company of Basotho migrant workers provided continual creative stimulation. The songs on Fela sa Ha Mojela are drawn from that time: stories of migration, of labour in the informal sector, of Joburg and its hardships. But they are also about hope, about “finding strength and courage. Spiritual calling. Death and having to live with the memory of loved ones.” The stories come alive through Morena Leraba’s distinctive voice, and lyrics that are part spoken word, part rapped, part sung. They are accompanied by music textured and rich, electronic beats and grooves weaving between the marimba’s deep notes and the rhythm and melodies of the uhadi to create a cohesive, hypnotic sonic tapestry.

With a widescreen ambition to bring elements of visual art and theatre into the band’s performances and – at last – an EP of moving, arresting and beautiful music for fans (also lined up for a vinyl pressing), Morena Leraba is set to take Lesotho’s shepherd charisma to new places and spaces in 2023.  

Enter our competition to win a vinyl edition of Fela sa Ha Mojela

This interview originally appeared in the March 2023 issue of Songlines. Never miss an issue – subscribe today