Local musicians Mpho Sebina and Solly Sebotso have joined forces with Danish-based musicians Kirat “Kiz” Singh and Jacob “J Spliff”Jørgensen in a beat to raise mental health awareness.
The group recently released a single titled “Troubled”, as part of the Heartstrings & Heartbeats campaign, which sees artists team up with scientists to shines the spotlight on mental health, which is still considered taboo in many African communities.
Sebina says she hopes the song will spark the necessary conversation around mental health and the stigma attached to it.
The songstress also urged fellow artists to speak up about issues surrounding mental health, taking into consideration how Covid-19 has negatively impacted the entertainment industry.
“The topic of mental health is quite close to my heart, more especially among creatives. I suffer from anxiety, body dysmorphia.
“And a lot of us do (suffer from mental health issues) and I think the more we are open and honest about our mental health the more we break the taboo,” says the songstress.
She adds: “The entire experience has been fulfilling for me as an artist. Getting to collaborate with incredible musicians across generations and genres, from Music Legend Solly Sebotso to our Danish brothers J-Spliff and Kiz Keys.
“And the best part it’s all to create awareness on mental health amongst creatives.”
Earlier this month, a team from Denmark landed in Botswana to shoot a music video for “Troubled”.
They also hosted workshops to discuss mental health among artists.
Commenting on the campaign, co-founder of the project and Denmark based entertainer Sidney “Big Syd” Sithole, said: “I have suffered from depression myself and this project is dear to me because I understand how it can be shunned.
He added: “It is just as important as physical health. The objective is to reach as many people as possible to spark dialogues that can normalise mental health and treat it accordingly.”
Echoing Sithole’s statement, Abraham Mamela, project co-founder explained: “Creatives are also affected by mental health and it might be good to start from the owners of the problem to inform the dialogue so it shapes the data for scientists to pick areas they could explore for the sake of knowledge production.”
He continued: “We want to see creative people co-creating the solution and becoming mutual beneficiaries of science.
“This will not only see creative people working together but also ensure scientists share research and knowledge on providing solutions to mental health.”
Mamela revealed that in future, the project will expand to other countries around the continent.