Badilisha Poetry

Mpho Ya Badimo


Country: South Africa



Biography:

 

South African- born artist Mpho ya Badimo, which translates into Gift of/for the Gods, hails from the North West Province’s capital, Mafikeng but her roots are in the Diamond City of Kimberly.  She expresses her art through an unconventional style of delivery which fuses her native tongue Setswana, colloquialisms, music and the use of movements to interpret words.  Through her use of localised expression, she challenges the audience to become actively involved in piecing together the meaning of the poetry as they would a puzzle - despite the absence of commonality in language. She co-founded the 5th Grove Poetry Movement while studying towards her degree.  She is a creative member, performer and at times program director of performance art foundations such as Lefoko Naughty West Hip Hop Movement and Xpressions under Lyv Records.  These affiliations saw her perform for Mutabaruka and Haile Garima on their 2003 Sankofa Promotional Tour. She she co-wrote the play “Blood Love” which was staged at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown (2007).  
She is the creator and sole designer of Black Lezoti jewellery, bags and wall art.

 

Related Podcasts & Events:

Malome Tata

 

Malome Tata o ntatile.
Malome Tata o ntatile tlheng!
O lala dibareng, baagisane ba re’ng?
O jola le bana,
 ke mathata a eng a tota?
Malome Tata, ke a go bolella papa.
Ke bone Malome Tata,
Maloba a crossa strata,
A khukhunela kwa bo-Marta,
Ha ke mmotsa are ba gerta.
Marta’s only sixteen years old,
Tata bought her a phone, 
A red but almost dead rose,
And wrote her a note,
Now she thinks they’re in love.
Her mom knows but o shapa tswa daar,
Tata o tlisa dipapa,
O zama le ya papsaka,
Le tsa go apara
So dit maakie sakkie.
Mosadi ke mosadi
She dropped out of school,
‘cause school wasn’t cool,
The kids were cruel,
The teachers too
And the rumours were true
She was expecting not one but two!
Malome Tata o ntatile.
Malome Tata o ntatile tlheng!
O lala dibareng, baagisane ba re’ng?
O jola le bana,
 ke mathata a eng a tota?
Malome Tata, ke a go bolella papa.
Lathlela bofofu to that young girl,
The one hiding behind those fake curls,
Parading in that short skirt,
You call her a bitch ‘cause you don’t know where she’s been
If  you did, you’d know she needs a hug not a fuck.
A girl torn up inside, porned up outside
Trying to commit suicide every night since the age of nine
She met a Tata in the form of  Papa
Mama tshaba bua,
Papa tlhala,
Lapa tlala
So shhh!
The pain gets hummed away.
Shhh!
The pain gets hummed away.
Shhh!
The pain gets hummed AWAY!

 

Check out other Badilisha artists:

Patricia Smith •  Epiphanie Mukasano •  Muhammad Muwakil •  Bassey Ikpi •  Sam Umokoro •  Chenjerai Hove •  Roger Bonair- Agard •  Julian Curry •  Togara Muzanenhamo •  Boonaa Mohammed •  Kolade Arogundade •  Poetic Pilgrimage •  Sandile Dikeni •  Jimmy Rage •  Lloyd Akin Palmer •  Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie •  Tinashe Mushakavanhu •  Imani Woomera •  Mpho Ya Badimo •  Bethel C. Simeon •  Khadijah Ibrahim •  Naima Mclean •  Kayo Chingonyi •  Segun Lee French •  Liesl Jobson •  Inua Ellams •  Cosmas Mairosi •  Avaez Mohammad •  Jethro Louw •  Kwame Dawes •  Anis Mojgani •  Blaq Pearl •  Mwalim Morgan Peters •  Violetta Simatupang •  Ruben van Gogh •  Changa Hickinson •  Antoine de Kom •  Odidi Mfenyana •  Napo Masheane •  Shabbir Banoobhai •  Jacques Coetzee •  Gert Vlok Nel •  Gcina Mhlophe •  Ernestine Deane •  Gus Ferguson •  Helen Moffett •  Bulelwa Basse •  Winslow Schalkwyk •  Jacqueline ‘pretty poet’ Kibacha •  Shailja Patel •  Hale Tsehlana •  Samantha Thornhill •  croc E moses •  Ben Caesar •  Musa Okwonga •  D´bi Young •  Breyten Breytenbach •  Gabeba Baderoon •  Omekongo wa Dibinga •  Mojisola Adebayo •  Zena Edwards •  Khadija Heeger •  Jitsvinger •  Diana Ferrus •  Annelie De Wet •  Andrea Nomasebe Dondolo •  Uche Nduka •  Tantra-Zawadi •  Seni Seneviratne •  Phillippa Yaa de Villiers •  Mwila Mambwe •  Michael Mabwe •  Megan Hall •  Mbali Vilakazi •  Loftus Marais •  Kai Lossgott •  Jessica Mbangeni •  Tania van Schalkwyk •  Jamala Safari •  Eric Miyeni •  Annie Moyo •  !Bushwomen •  Emile Jansen •  Lemn Sissay •  African Noise Foundation •  Aryan Kaganof •  Warsan Shire •  Ngoma Hill •  Dorothea Smartt •  

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