By Lisa Sidambe On 21 May 2024, the Government of Lesotho made a shocking announcement. The airplay and circulation of Famo folk music was banned on radio and television. This followed the police minister’s criminalisation of twelve Famo music groups, their attire and songs, a result of the classification of these groups as gangs and terrorist organisations. Authorities equated listening to this music with supporting a crime, arguing that such an act is a crime itself. Freemuse is deeply concerned about this restrictive measure which sweepingly criminalises the creation, dissemination and access of Famo music, as a means of curbing brutalities of gangsterism. Famo music: A lethal history Famo music has its roots in the labour force of the Lesotho populace that migrated to the mines of South Africa in the 1920s, largely from the Basotho ethnic group. Songs captured experiences of working in these mines, and served as a convergence point for the Lesotho migrant community, in the mines and informal settlements. Over generations, Famo music has developed into a form of storytelling, a narration of the anxieties, victories and aspirations of a Lesotho population seeking better socio-economic prospects both at home and in neighbouring South Africa. A mixture of different genres in the rich sound of Famo music is symbolic of the hybridity of the cultures the Basotho have encountered in foreign lands and exported home to the Kingdom of Lesotho.  As mines have continued to be shut down in South Africa, illegal mining has intensified, directly impacting the sound of Famo music. A competition for what is now limited resources has pitted migrant Lesotho communities against each other, creating rivalries under which some artists have instrumentalised music to insult and denigrate each other. The expressive music which once carried hopes and aspirations, has in some instances now been marred by expressions of vengeance. This has transformed some songs from a space of solidarity t