A diamond in the rough! A star in the making! Half-Sotho, Half-Mozambican!
They say struggles are always paving way for great fortunes, in the late 2000s,
his mother died in South Africa, the other parent was already gone. His
father was from Mozambique and then lived in South Africa, as we in the
southern Africa know that there are more job opportunities in SOUTH Africa.
He then had to leave South Africa due to an unhealthy environment that
his father’s family created for him after his dad and mom died (Please do
get emotional now). His name is Eska Ponto, a recording and performing
artist, graphic designer and a music producer.
Eska left SA and came to Lesotho for the first time in his life, first time coming to Lesotho and was at an age around 13. “I only remembered my mother’s words when she said ‘whenever the situation is uncomfortable for you here (SA), go to Lesotho and tell the taxi/bus driver that you are going to Maseru’s border gate... On your arrival to Maseru’s border gate, ask people where do Ha-Leqele taxis rank, go there and take a taxi to Ha-leqele’”. You can imagine, at the age younger than 13, being told such stuff, and a few years later having to apply what you have been told. He left and successfully got to Lesotho, found his mother’s relatives and lived with them - that was in 2010.
While he settled in Lesotho, Ts’epo Moletsane did dance hip-hop, and that kind of lead him into loving hip-hop music and ended up discovering that he could rap. Eska then joined a music crew called ‘Crazy Music Fam’(CMF). Fox, K-Drop, N-Taw etc. were the crew members back them. The crew created a lot of music and did build their name, well at their then level. Eska Ponto says CMF was all about getting some pretty girls, so he used to hang out with Cyber, Uncle Dave, BulRay etc., who later united to form Plaka Boys, a music crew that shook Leqele high school’s music environment after Big-Drop and A-Fam. Even though Ts’epo said Plaka Boys was also ‘bout the booty’, it’s members have built a strong brotherhood relationship, they are still friends to date. But before Plaka Boys was Climax Crew, which was ex-Crazy Music Fam.
"...I had to tell my mind that music is business to me... and to the industry folks, consider venturing into the internet, make a research on how to promote your music online, get as much info as you can, and take a step towards achieving that what you desire..."
Eska was trouble in high school, having grown up in Soweto and moving to Maseru Lesotho, he appeared to be that smart guy, in his mind though. As they say. music is a savior, it saved and exposed him, but I will not go into that... to cut long story short, Plaka Boys was trouble in grade 11. “I joined the other crew or label, Back Room Entertainment” Eska said. That was
in 2015 and the label was known as Invisible Chords, but still Eska had not yet taken music professionally and he says this caused by not knowing enough about the music business.
‘I graduated my high school and got accepted in National University Of Lesotho’- Eska chuckled. One would expect Ts’epo to maybe invest in his music career or maybe fully focus on school now that he is in the University environment, but he ventured into the radio industry, still... ‘for girls’. The
university was a lot better though, Eska was able to get some gigs in NUL (National University Of Lesotho) and perform the songs he did in high school, and fortunately he had a following from high school and they sang along - turns out he got more girls, just giving it a thought anyway. Radio took much time from Eska’s daily 24 hours - research and presenting, this means school work suffered.
NUL is famously known as a place of so much fun in Lesotho, with students from 10 districts of Lesotho and other international countries, rare breeds all in one place. Manpower is a government branch that offers bursaries to those high school graduates who performed well per say. If you are admitted to enroll in a certain course at a Manpower recognized college, you will then be among those who are to be sponsored by Manpower, they take a certain number of students though, so you might find yourself on the waiting list. Eska was sponsored too, that means he received a monthly rent and food cash. “I started doing what I wanted, anytime I wanted and any place I wanted” Ts’epo Moletsane emphasized. I began living freely for I was away from parents, I wasn’t ready for tertiary life. “I got myself into serious debts thinking that I now get a monthly stack. I couldn’t pay such debts and that resulted into me not being free in the streets for ‘bo-mashonisa’(loan sharks) are somehow dangerous. I couldn’t pay rent, I mean I was in trouble.”
Eska had to dropout, he was in deep s***t. He did not tell us how he managed to settle the debts, but he decided to leave Lesotho once he paid off all those debts. “I went back to his father’s place in South Africa - Soweto.” He continued, telling us that his dad’s family was not welcoming - family scandal. You can get yourself into his shoes. trying to go clear your mind at a place you think will come to your rescue, but instead you find no room in such, sad indeed. Ts’epo had to find another place where he could take some time to reinvent himself. “I traveled to Rustenburg and I got a job on the construction site, a lot of things happened.” Eska said. Maybe he even got some honeys, who knows?
In December 2018, the musician came back to Lesotho. Cyber, an old friend and a then Plaka Boys member linked him to Atomic Wolf, Bling and Deezy. The team then approached Mr. Moorosi Tsatsanyane for a helping hand in getting the professional studio equipment. They got the studio pack and started working. Eska has been consistently creating music with now a movement
‘Music To Africa’. The movement was founded by Eska Ponto himself. His vision is to unite the African talented brothers and sisters into one powerful unit. This he says is made possible by one artist helping the next with whatever they posses, it’s called ‘ubuntu’ in Kwazulu Natal. The movement now has a list of great acts; Adult Musician, Tony DTroy, Iryson, Terror Mohale, Big-Drop, Bugger etc., it is growing each day.
2020 has been quite amazing for Eska Ponto, He dropped an EP titled ‘MARUBELE’ with songs like ‘Ke Khauoane, Fito, Stimela etc’. He worked with Young ThirtyEight the producer, Cyber, Adult Musician and other acts. Check out some of the songs of the EP on Login Radio’s music section. The EP is available on demand in hard copies. He released ‘Koriana Ha E Lla’ official music video,
a single from the EP, available on YouTube, embed below. Eska is currently working on a new album, ‘Eleven03’. He’s working with Cyber on the project.
You can listen to 'The Clout Entrepreneur' Episode 01 with Eska as our guest, hosted by Elnolo.
Eska Ponto - Koriana Ha E lla ft Adult Musicians, Uncle dave & bagger (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)