Pabi Cooper’s Single Amasses Over 3 Million Views. Just over a year ago, singer and dancer Pabi Cooper was the typical girl next door whose dreams were to become SA’s youngest soccer referee. As she followed her passion and attained a certificate of being a qualified referee, her dreams came to a halt due to the pandemic, a hard knock that left Cooper scratching the surface of some of her talents that have solidified her in becoming the star she is today.
Born Paballo Mothapo, Cooper started out as a dancer who performed at small-scale concerts. Despite being noted as an entertaining dancer, the multi-talented musician believed there was more to her as a performer than just dancing. That’s when she shunned her imposter syndrome and embarked on a singing career that saw her collaborate with amapiano stars such as Focalistic and Ch’cco.
Pabi Cooper dropped her hit single ‘Bafana Ke Banyana’ about four months ago, and the song has become a massive hit on music streaming platforms. It became a favourite to many yanos fans, and it has now reached over 3 million views in such a short period of time. This is a milestone worth celebrating for the star considering she has been in the industry for a short period of time.
The rising star’s passion for football was first sparked by her grandmother who taught her the ins and outs of soccer through their little television at home as a child. While soccer was what she and her grandmother used to bond over, little did Cooper know that later in her life she’d want to pursue it professionally by becoming a referee.
“Fame for me wasn’t the plan. I mean, I only released my first song Isphithiphithi in August last year, so being known like this feels unreal but I am grateful. I’m from Soshanguve, north of Pretoria. It’s a known fact that people, where I come from, don’t usually make it in life – it’s either you fall pregnant quite young or become a junkie.”
She added: “I remember being told that I wouldn’t amount to anything because of how I used to conduct myself when I was 15. I’d often go out with my friend, not focusing enough on my school books… actually at that time, I thought I knew everything. I thought I was cool. Luckily I had a turning point in my life when I found my love for soccer two years later by being a goalkeeper.”
