Pabi Cooper On The Cover Of Spotify’s Amapiano Grooves. 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. She is now on the cover of Spotify’s Amapiano Grooves, after dropping her much anticipated single. Check it out:
In high school, Cooper was a part of the choir and although she had a great singing voice, she would ditch choir practice for soccer referee lessons, that’s how she knew her love for the sport wasn’t just a phase. “I come from a family of soccer fans, so that to me was more exciting than singing. My grandmother supports Kaizer Chiefs and I support Orlando Pirates. We used to watch soccer on Saturdays and she would teach me what an offsite meant and the rules of the game. Soccer has been my outlet since I was young,” said the 22-year-old.
“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.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,” she added.
