#VocalistOfNote – Morena The Squire

Morena The Squire (born Morena-Busa Katiso Sefatsa) is an Afro pop artist from South Africa. Morena’s music incorporates the nuanced world of township slang, infused with seminal R&B and rhythmic electronica.

Morena Sefatsa is best known as a presenter on the e.tv youth programme, Craz-e. Fast forward to 2017 and he’s now a musician, going by the stage name of Morena the Squire, with a hit single, Faith Alive. My love for music was always there, but it took me a while to get here because I had to find exactly what I wanted to do. Then I realised that I should just do me.

I initially sang Faith Alive to an acoustic guitar, but Ray, the guitarist, said it would be great with a beat. So we took it to Cuba, the producer, and he worked his magic. So now it’s a dance track. Switching from presenting to music was a challenge because I approach my music very differently to the way I tackle presenting.

My stage name was taken from the house jam Squire For Hire. I relate to it; it’s all about energy. But building my brand, like every journey, has its ups and downs. Still, it’s been fun as I love performing.

Musician Morena the Squire stepped on a few toes when he touched on the topic of “pretty privilege”. Morena shared a tweet that agreed with the notion that pretty people win a lot in life because they were just “pretty”. Stating that not much can be done about it, he advised his followers not to fight the notion but to accept it.

“Don’t be jealous. Just find what your value point is and use it. For example, you can use your smarts or confidence… etc.” The “pretty privilege” is a debate that has hogged social media TLs for the past few months, with beauty and lifestyle vlogger Mihlali Ndamase and twerk queen Faith Nketsi previously being thrown into the spotlight.

Fans believed that the ladies were able to achieve all they could because of their good looks. Mihlali has spoken up on the stigma around women who are into beauty, as they were considered “airheads” who only traded on their looks.

“We contribute a huge chunk to the marketing and branding industry. Now we’re getting a bit more respect. Maybe it’s because of the brand affiliations and the opportunities that people see us getting, but before then, honestly, there was no respect for people who were content creators and influencers,” she said in an interview on Radio 702.