Juju Boy has a warning sticker on his album, One Man Rock Band, this label is straightforward, “Tlhagiso. Mafoko mangwe a ka kgopisa.” (Watch out, I am about to get real.) Simply, the listener is advised that they may just be offended by something they hear on the CD. Is it because the album is a reflection of Botswana here and now and maybe where the country is going…? “Sorry! But get used to it!” is what the warning label seems to be saying.
One Man Rock Band is a completely different sound to what has been produced before locally just like the CD cover artwork, which is very detailed. Juju Boy's Clark Kent is called Kgotla Ntsima who is also a very capable graphic designer by the way. The CD artwork will have most peeps wondering why Juju is sitting there with a big fuck off straight blade. Dude looks for all intents and purposes like Sweeny Todd that mass murdering London barber who used to slash his clients and turn them into pies. Juju looks like he has violent intentions for the music bizz in Botswana. Another refrence to a particularly scray character, the leader of The Natives in Gangs of New York, Bill the Butcher, can be seen in the pinstriped leather waist coated gear this evil looking Juju Boy is wearing.
Open the CD sleeve and its apocalypse now with a caption explaining that Juju Boy “O fitlhela go tlhakatlhakane.” (Juju Boy discovers things all fucked up) Is he talking about the music industry, or more provocatively is he talking about politics seeing as there is a huge billboard saying “Juju Boy for President.” The CD sleeve echoes the marketing which features something that has never been done before in Botswana. Juju ponied up the readies for a billboard out of his own budget. There wasn’t a single corporate behind the initiative, and the billboard is positioned in a prime spot in Broadhurst, at a super busy intersection so it wasn’t a cheap marketing stunt.
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