6 months ago
24
Ex-Idols SA contestant Botlhale Phora has caught the holy spirit and is switching his sound to gospel music.
The 28-year-old musician hopes to have an illustrious career like his gospel hero and the late Solly Moholo, who died last week.
Phora placed third place in the 2017 edition of the axed reality TV singing competition, which was won by Paxton Fielies.
“One of my biggest regrets is not accepting my calling or following my purpose which is gospel. I should’ve ventured into the gospel industry a long time ago, especially when I was given the platform by Idols SA and by now I would’ve been very far,” he said.
“I’ve always known that gospel is where I should go but I was in denial. Only now, I’m doing last minute things and starting from scratch, basically at the bottom and I hope with my drive, I get to occupy the gospel space and become the biggest gospel artist in SA.”
Born and raised in a Christian household in Ga-Rankuwa, north of Pretoria, Moholo was the go-to artist in his household.
“My love for music grew when I saw how passionate Solly was about his artistry. It’s quite sad that we lost such an icon,” he said.
“Solly helped shape my musical career, he inspired me to see that one can become big even as a gospel artist.
“I’m a very versatile musician, I’ve done house, amapiano, afro-pop and soul but now I belong to my calling and that’s what I’m going to do going forward.”
Life after Idols SA was not what Phora envisioned, although it opened many doors for him.
“My time in the industry these past seven years has been good and bad at the same time. I’ve been hanging in there since the competition ended,” he said.
“We were told that things would change after Idols and that people would forget about us, they basically told us that we’re now on our own and we had to sell ourselves in the entertainment industry.
“This is why I’m working this hard as an independent artist, everything is all on me. At some point I had to be my manager, which is quite difficult because I can’t focus on my music. I got the opportunity to travel to the UK as part of a theatrical circuit in 2017, 2022 and 2023. I played the son of the late Nelson Mandela in the musical.”
Phora has released his first gospel offering that is a 10-track album. He is currently touring and performing in churches in parts of the country to promote his new music.
“This album is a variety of the different types of gospels we have out there. I have a Lundi Tyamara type of song, a ZCC one, Hillsong worship and even Apostle. It’s all-inclusive to all types of praise because we all praise one God,” he said.
