Botswana, Batswana and Stampore's Song, "Re Batswana"

A few of the many and diverse cover versions of "Re Batswana," by the late Botswanan musician, Stampore.

When I started getting into the music of Botswana, I knew nothing about it. As far as the country, I knew it was in Africa. Early on, I found myself confused by a lot of things Botswana, including the terms Botswana and Batswana. I assumed they were variations of the same thing. Wrong.

As Britannica has it, the Tswana, are a "westerly division of the Sotho, a Bantu-speaking people of South Africa and Botswana. The Tswana comprise several groupings, the most important of which, numerically speaking, are the Hurutshe, Kgatla, Kwena, Rolong, Tlhaping, and Tlokwa. They numbered about four million at the turn of the 21st century." The Tswana are also called Motswana (singular) or Batswana (plural).

Something else that I've discovered is that the song "Re Batswana" is apparently quite popular in Botswana. So much so that I was able to find a number of great cover versions to feature here and that's not the extent of it.

The song is by the late Botswanan guitarist who performed under the name Stampore. He first became popular in the Eightes and passed in 2013. The first clip here is of Stampore playing a rather wild version of the song.

In a similar vein, but playing solo, is a Botswanan guitarist who goes by the name Western and who's been featured here several times. He plays in the style unique to Botswana, where the guitar often has two of the bass strings removed.

Maxy KhoiSan's version of the song is in the very distinctive "traditional" style of Botswanan music. Which went through something of a resurgence in recent decades, but has settled down a bit. Khoisan has been referred to as Queen of Setswana Traditional Music and Dance.

At the other end of the spectrum is Zolasko, whose music has a decidedly harder, more rhythmic approach than the aforementioned.

Last up, is the Re Batswana Music Ensemble, no less, with a mellow, rather lush version that's all the way at the other end of the spectrum from Zolasko's take. From the video notes:

This video of the late Stampores classic song "Re Batswana" was shot in 2015 at Botswana Craft, Gaborone and Mahalapye. It's a celebration of many things, the work of Stampore, who's legend lives on, and the importance of his album "Re Batswana".