It is 2010 and most parents are unaware that their children are taking extra lunch boxes and walking from Kempton Park to Tembisa just so they can save enough money to buy black suede Carvela 5-Step, 1212 Metal Moccasin or the 920 Penny Moc in December. Every month, there would be a meeting at the park to discuss how much the loudest taxi would cost, as well as how much money would be needed for a bucket of KFC to sustain the trip to Fountains Valley in Pretoria, where the biggest festival would be hosted.
The Carvelas would be bought, the KFC money would be squandered by the organisers and the loud taxi would arrive on time, collecting the group at the corner closest to the nearest highway. The song playing would be Bashanyana by Tebogo Moropa, better known as Mono T.
The song was produced in 2010 alongside DJ Maphorisa. Mono T says he remembers the hold it had on South African house music fans.
“I remember 2010 very well. The song was still brand new. This was around the time Vetkuk and Pepsi would host a Spring Bash at Wemmer Pan in the south of Johannesburg. The song was just two weeks old and Maphorisa and I were on stage playing it, man. I remember that after us, Zakes Bantwini and Black Coffee performed.
“Those memories are still running through my head. I still have flashbacks because we did wonders with that song.”
Mono T says that when they made the song, he never imagined it would have the impact it eventually did.
But times were different. This was before TikTok trends, streaming platforms and people recording videos throughout the night at a jam session. This was a time when people went out to party, hoping to hear exclusive songs and dance without the fear of waking up to find themselves trending on social media.
More than a decade after its release, the song continues to find its way onto dance floors, connecting audiences who experienced its original arrival with a younger generation discovering it for the first time. But this time, the record arrives with a different interpretation. The veteran pro-ducer has released a remix package of the iconic track, bringing together a new generation of producers to reimagine a song that has remained an important part of South African dance music.
But why go back in order to move forward?
“I feel like even when the song was big, it didn't land the way I wanted it to. The song was too ahead of its time. I feel like Maphorisa and I were thinking too far ahead. Even when you play the song now, it's still relevant. You'd swear it was made yesterday,” he says.
Mono T says he did not have to do much to convince DJ Maphorisa about reworking the sound while maintaining its original Afro Tech foundation.
The sound has been synonymous with Mono T ever since he started making music in 2003 in his bedroom at Vaal Tech.
He points to the likes of Black Coffee, Euphonic, DJ Shimza and Kairo, who have helped carry the Afro Tech movement across Europe, where the sound has found a devoted audience.
“I just felt like it belonged there. It belonged to that movement.”
For Mono T, however, the project also provided an opportunity to work with younger producers whose talent deserves greater recognition.
He says he has always believed in empowering young people, particularly those who are serious about their craft and committed to developing their careers.
That philosophy is something he traces back to his own experiences working at Kalawa Jazmee Records. There, he and Maphorisa were exposed to an environment built around collaboration, mentorship and the sharing of knowledge.
The experience shaped his understanding of what it means to be part of a music community.
“It's something that we learnt from Kalawa,” he says.
“Maphorisa and I were producing at Kalawa. We were working within that brotherhood; it felt like a family.”
He believes the industry has enough room for established artists and emerging producers to succeed together.
“The cake is too big, man,” he says. Beyond the Bashanyana remix, Mono T will release an EP at the end of November. He has also announced plans to release a single every Friday in the lead-up to the project.
Even though Amapiano is dominating the market, Mono T says he believes there is room for Afro Tech and that many people continue to enjoy the sound.
“Without taking anything away from Amapiano, which is a sound that is doing great and something that originates from South Africa, my first love is Afro Tech. It's house music. I still remember working with the likes of Mbuso at Phezulu Records and Soul Candi. I still firmly believe in that sound.”
The Bashanyana remix package is one way of contributing to that movement.
For Mono T, the next chapter is as much about the people coming up behind him as it is about his own return to the studio.
The boy who once watched established DJs from the sidelines, learnt to produce with limited resources and relied on others to recognise his potential now has an opportunity to extend that support to a new generation. “All the guys that I worked with on the Bashanyana remix package, I'm going to do a joint EP with each and every one of them, just to put them on. I just want to give them a step up because I feel like they're very good. They deserve to be in the game.”
And perhaps that is the more enduring story behind the Bashanyana remix: not simply that an old record can find new life but that the relationships and opportunities created around music can continue long after its original release.
The memories of 2010 remain but Mono T is not particularly interested in living in them.
With new music on the way and younger producers alongside him, he is looking towards what comes next.