The legendary moppie icon Taliep “Falcon” Abrahams has left the stage.
The original Moppie King was laid to rest on Sunday and he will be remembered as one of the best moppie writers and performers of all time.
Boeta Taliep started his career with the Falcons boy band, they were one of the finalists at the very first talent competition hosted at the Luxurama Theatre in Wynberg - the Plascon Talent Search.
Although they did not win - they came second - they went on to become an iconic cabaret act.
The master of moppies has a songbook that is second to none.
There is a moppie about the first heart transplant performed by Doctor Christiaan Barnard, with lyrics like: “Hoor hoe klop sy hart, dit klop boom chica boom chica boom chica boom.”
And who can forget when Boeta Taliep transformed into cabaret diva Liza Minnelli?
I was lucky enough to sing one of his moppies when we worked together for the first time at Hanover Superstars Malay choir.
The moppie was titled Boeta Joe se Barber and went: “As die Rastaman daar kom, dan se boeta vir hom, jy maak almal my skere stom. Joe is al vies vir hom.
“Dis geel blommetjies en rooi blommetjies wat aan sy hare hang, maar as jy hom van ver af sien, lyk sy kop nes ‘* bossie blomme, ‘* verlepte bossie blomme.”
He always managed to see the funny in any situation when writing a moppie.
It was important for him to stress the sense of the topic and not to repeat the same line more than once, but to build the story with each part and this is what true moppie writing is about, telling our stories.
Boeta Taliep used to tell me he doesn’t charge the Klopse and Malay Choirs much because they struggle too and their only intention is to keep our culture alive.
And because I followed through on this lesson, I discovered something which he probably knew at that time, which was a genuine and true love for the game.
I owe Boeta Taliep a huge part of my career because he was the first guy to actually sit me down and say: “Kom ons skryf gou die kop van die comic.”
This taught me that writing was probably the most important part of any performer’s arsenal and to have had this genius as a mentor was a blessing.
It does not matter where you saw Boeta Taliep, be it in Town Centre or at a competition, he always had a lekker story to tell, and in the end he would always ask me, waarvan skryf jy die jaar?
He was never afraid to share his topics. It didn’t matter because you would not be able to match his brilliance anyway.
When he sang for Morning Glories: “Die Kaap se liggies gaan aan en af”, he subtly hinted at load shedding and we did’t even get a blackout yet that time.
The moppie was about the Adderley Street Christmas lights, and he let the guys in the singpak go up and down to imitate the liggies going off and on.
So when we were first hit with load shedding, I could not help but to think of this moppie.
I mean, how did he know Eskom would run out of krag?
The genius and foresight of this man is why I call him the Nostradamus of comic writing.
In a sport where gossiping and backbiting is the order of the day, no one has a bad thing to say about Boeta Taliep.
He was a gentlemen and a true sportsman and yes, he did not always win but he had the capacity to genuinely and sincerely congratulate whoever won.
You know he was genuine because when he got you three weeks later, he could tell you the parts that he loved about your moppie, and even sing it back to you.
It’s as if he wanted to inspire you to keep going, to keep the culture alive, and by being a good loser, everybody applauded him.
This is a magnificent trait that he possessed which very few have in them today.
If we had more mense like Taliep Falcon, then there would be far less discord in the minstrel and Malay choir fraternities.
Boeta Taliep’s son Abduraghiem Abrahams says his dad cared for the youth.
“My pa was gevaarlik lief vir kinders, hyt selfs ‘* sokker team in Manenberg begin, en hy’t altyd die kinders encourage om Slamse skool (madressa) toe te gaan.”
He says his dad was also not keen for his children to join the klopse or Malay Choirs, rather encouraging them to study their religion of Islam.
The most beautiful part of my conversation with Abduraghiem was when he revealed that when they placed his father on the kaatel he had a smile on his face, a grin that seemed to say he is happy and satisfied with where he is going.
May the Almighty grant our hero Taliep “Falcon” Abrahams a high place in Jannah inshallah, ameen.