Galani Machisani

Story

Big Blow Records was formed in 1996 by two brothers Galani "Malik Barks" Machisane and Kudzani "Xavelli Mitch Ameru" Machisane. They started as an underground Hip-Hop group called Rebellion Poets, later on the Phoenix and and now BIG BLOW. They recorded songs underground with DDS from 2001 and never released them commercially. Three years later saw them separated by school and work obligations and that did not deter them from producing and performing. The other member, Mitch was initially involved in Yarona fm's sprite rap activity show battling various mcees from around the city and in 2011 he was a finalist in the Gemstone alongside Orakle, while Barks was busy producing beats and networking, something which Xavelli Mitch later also mastered. In 2015 they co produced the single Reflexions and shot a video which was welcomed by their followers on social media with critical acclaim. Later in 2016 they collaborated with a span of upcoming artists and two veterans namely Pongo Ristas & Mbodlela AKA Be free to record a fifteen track album called Second to None which was released in 2017. The production on the album was done by Malik Barks, Xavelli Mitch Ameru and Lucky kunene with all of them rapping and singing the verses, hooks and choruses with the rest of the crew. The album was engineered by Zolasko and Mixed by Dublin & Dr Tawanda. It is available in itunes, spotify and apple music and also licensed to international deals. The follow up album The fountain was released in 2019 with two singles 6:25 and cityboy released in September and November 2018 respectively to critical radio acclaim making it the most streamed Botswana album of all times in digital platforms.

Profile

Instruments

Genres

Influences

Languages

What is music to you? What does it give you?

Pleasure relieve and it is therapeutic.

What is your music dream?

To take over the international music charts.

If you could change the world - what would you start with?

I would start with negative minds and perceptions.

Which is the most memorable song from your childhood?

Dear mama and The world is yours

Who are your favorite musical artists or bands?

Tupac, Nas, Dre , Ja rule , Lil Wayne, Drake & Nicky Minaj

What inspires you to make music?

My life experiences

What is the message you want to send with your music?

Everything is possible as long as you persevere.

How do you feel when you perform in front of an audience?

On top of the world

How do you see the musicians’ reality nowadays? What could be improved?

They should collaborate more and stop beefing.

What do you think of Drooble?

Awesome

What frustrates you most as a musician?

Lack of airplay

Do you support your local scene as a fan? How?

I stream and download their music

What qualities should a musician nowadays have in order to get their music heard by a larger audience?

Discipline and humbled .

Share some awesome artists that we’ve never heard of.

Big Blow all stars