The first time I encountered Focalistic was on 5 January 2021. I remember that day because it was an extremely hot Tuesday and the third day back at work after the festive season.
An eagled-eyed junior reporter then, I was scrambling for story ideas on a slow news week, which I hated. It then dawned on me that, in December, the top song choice on every DJ’s soundtrack at groove was Ke Star — cut number two from Focalistic’s debut album Sghubu Ses Excellent.
To my surprise, when I called the then 24-year-old supernova from GaRankuwa, north of Pretoria, he answered. Our conversation lasted about 24 minutes and, much like the title of his 2020 mega hit Ke Star suggested, Foca was a star.
I still have that recording; we talked about a lot, including how he got his other moniker, Pitori Maradona — he almost became a soccer star. He was a top goal scorer and wore the No. 10 jersey, like Diego Maradona, Pele, and Lionel Messi.
We also spent most of the conversation laughing about how his sonic catchphrase, “Ase trap tse ke pina tsa ko kasi”, had sealed his superstar status. At the time the slogan, which translates to “This is not trap music, it’s what we listen to in the township,” had become a meme because fans not fluent in Sepitori (Pretoria lingo) had been misinterpreting it.
In my first profile interview with him, Sowetan named him the shining star to watch.
It has now been four years and Foca has reached stratospheric fame. We reconnect in the back seat of his black Mercedes-Benz V-Class. He lights a cigarette before we start, giving him something to fidget with for the first few minutes. Not much has changed, except that Foca has now entered superstardom — the kind of fame that comes with a large entourage, an impenetrable wall with the door jammed shut, and only them having the key.
They guard the kingdom as we chat, waiting outside the car after having indulged in Chicken Licken for breakfast.
Despite the tight security, Foca’s charisma shines. Intriguing social commentary still forms the backbone of his introspective fire lyrics and, above all, his discography remains an unapologetic blast of kasi pride.
“For me, it has always been about a bigger goal or purpose. When we started out, many didn’t know what Sepitori is,” he says. “It always felt deeper than just making music. It felt like telling stories of where I grew up and where my parents grew up because it didn’t just start with us. Musically, the transition has always been to take people to a different sound, especially using Sepitori. But now, in 2025, it’s about the kids and how many more lives we can change.”
He’s referring to his record label 18 Area Holdings, which has signed fellow musicians Pabi Cooper, G-Tech 2bit, and DJ Tshegu. He teases that his new offering, Based on a True Story, with longtime collaborator Chicco, is another taste of what he has to offer. When I joke that he’s no longer the starry-eyed novice I met in 2021 and ask if should call him the “Godfather of the Yanos”, he laughs.
“I wouldn’t say I’m a godfather but rather a vessel that God has put in a place where I can feature people and change their lives or work on their projects and help them produce it,” he says. “That’s one thing I never knew I had in myself. [And then], the first song we did with Cooper and Chicco, Banyana Ke Bafana, and the second song, Pabi Jo, and seeing over 16 million streams. So, I wouldn’t say godfather, I would say label exec.”
It’s hard to name a hot song in the past seven years that Focalistic has not touched — Tobetsa Remake, Biri Marung, Dlala Ka Yona, Sandton, Banyana Ke Bafana, the list is endless. But what has been the biggest lesson?
“Keep going. You can’t be consistent if you don’t keep going,” he says. “It comes from a deep place of passion. You can drop 100 songs and it’s only at song #101 that people will like it. The lessons have been to stay passionate, make the music, and cut out the fluff. All the unnecessary things are just distractions.”
Real name Lethabo Sebetso, he holds a degree in political science from the University of Pretoria. Yet, whether he’s Lethabo, Focalistic, President Ya Straata or Pitori Maradona, he doesn’t sign up to the concept of alter egos.
“A lot of people have romanticised balance,” he believes. “When I became Focalistic, I wanted to be Focalistic. I don’t have a yearning to be Lethabo. It’s not an alter ego; it’s so linked to who I have been. Focalistic is just a name I got from my cousin. I don’t romanticise a place where I go hide and become myself. Even when I pray, God knows that Focalistic is involved. I have been lucky enough that it has been my passion from a young age because I grew up in a musical family — not necessarily making music but consuming it.”
His biggest influence in storytelling has been his late father, renowned political journalist Kgomotso Sebetso. He credits his love for music to his father, who gave him a microphone when he was in grade 9.
“In keeping the legacy of my father, I feel like I’m still a journalist. That’s how I keep that legacy going; I’m storytelling what I’ve went through, what other people are going through, and what I see,” he explains.
“On that other side of storytelling is Sepitori itself. We were on Carte Blanche the other day talking about how Sepitori is such an important cultural moment. When people find the language to express themselves and the stories of where they come from, the journalism come in. There is a story of telling a voice that has now culminated in Sepitori, a voice that has been marginalised for so long and a voice that now has a voice through me.”
