By Neo Mathibe
Rapper Tṧepo James Kabi, aka Moddaw, who hails from Mokhotlong, has ventured into farming and he is already making waves.
Moddaw is originally from Mokhotlong Thialala, even though he is known to be from Leribe and Botha-Bothe because he resided there for most of his childhood and schooling years. He currently resides in Maseru.
He has entered into a partnership with his music producer Nelson “uNejah” Chikuvira. They are pursuing two projects at the moment, although they see it as one project. One is a piggery project and the other is vegetable farming.
He says they went into farming for various reasons, including the need to establish a sustainable source of income as he was unemployed at the time. Although he was driven into farming by hunger, he has slowly begun to love every aspect of it; when all is said and done he loves what he does especially because it does pay the bills.
Hunger for a better life and the alarming rate of youth unemployment is what motivated this young man. He began farming in 2017 when he started the project by himself and has since been farming on a part time basis. That was until recently when he began doing it full time because of the pandemic.
Having gone out of their way to do something that most young people would not do, from being a rapper to becoming a full time farmer, the best thing about this is the experience. He says becoming a farmer at his age is overwhelming. He says the knowledge he is acquiring is lifetime knowledge, he cannot ask for more because he now has the knowhow to guarantee generational income.
The turning point for these young men came during the first 2020 lockdown, when they went bankrupt. Not that the days before the lockdown were any better for them. They discovered during this lockdown that they had been living below their average standards.
“So right there and then, we decided we would find a way to make money. Having been a part time farmer, I told Nelson that I think we should go into farming. When I proposed this, only then did I learn that my family has a long history of farming; and so Nelson and I agreed on a partnership and here we are today,” Moddaw said.
The rapper promised that he is still invested in his rap career too, and still making music for his fans. Yes, very much still in it, he has a multiple songs produced by him from his friend Lemeke’s new album. He is also featured on two tracks there.
“We’ve also been recording a lot of music together recently. It’s like this, if we are not at the farm then we are in the studio. We will be releasing an album soon.
“Most definitely, the music has been recorded, mixed and mastered, all that’s left now is for us to set dates and handle preproduction logistics; do expect something.
“Small scale farming is the type of business that takes one’s small financial investment and births really reasonable profits. Being a businessman, that is all one wants, to invest little and cash in big. That is one reason why I ventured into farming.
“Farming without funds is one of the hardest things I have had to do in my life, but over time I got used to it and began to appreciate it, so the hardships become a part of the journey.”
