Kwaito, one of the most important music genres and cultural innovations to emerge in Post-Apartheid South Africa is music that is characterized by being ‘after the struggle.’ It is a kind of music that branches off of the genres House and Hip-Hop. It is seen as being apolitical and does not pay attention to the political side of South Africa. However, politicians have been known to use Kwaito to relate to the youth of South Africa. Furthermore, Kwaito is also seen to be related to American styles of music through the kinds of messages they promote and convey. A strong name in the Kwaito genre is Arthur Mafokate who is considered one of the founding fathers of this new and upbeat style of music.
Basically a type of dance music, most Kwaito songs are composed of slowed down House tracks and repetitive lyrics. This genre relates well to the youth of South Africa due to its appealing lines and words. The lyrics of Kwaito tend to mention and possess rebellious, defiant, and illegal values. Also, the genre of Kwaito music has been attributed with the young lingo/dialect and fashion norms. Due to this, the music is usually listened to at all-night parties that are referred to as ‘bashes.’
History and Politics
This genre of music started emerging in the 1990s and continued to grow throughout the decade. There have been traces of Marabi music from the 1920’s and Kwela music from the 1950’s found in Kwaito. This is because there is a combination of multiple rhythms from those time periods and genres. Moreover, Kwaito was influenced by many famous artists from the past including legends such as Miriam Makeba and Brenda Fassie. These influences helped Kwaito keep a strong base because it now had ties to music before the end of Apartheid a...
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... to the new and free South Africa that is originates from.
Works Cited
Mus, L. (2004). Kwaito versus crossed-over: Music and identity during south africa's rainbow years, 1994–99. Social Dynamics: A Journal of African Studies, 30(2), 82-111. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02533950408628686
Music.org.za. (2014). Mafokate, Arthur (South Africa). Retrieved from: http://www.music.org.za/artist.asp?id=92
SAHO. (2009). Kwaito. Retrieved from: http://www.sahistory.org.za/performing-arts/kwaito
Steingo, G. (2005). South african music after apartheid: Kwaito , the “Party politic,” and the appropriation of gold as a sign of success. Popular Music & Society, 28(3), 333-357. doi:10.1080/03007760500105172
Steingo, G. (2007). The politicization of "Kwaito": From the "Party politic" to party politics. Black Music Research Journal, 27(1), 23-44.
For centuries, music has been defined by history, time, and place. To address this statement, Tom Zè, an influential songwriter during the Tropicália Movement, produced the revolutionary “Fabrication Defect” to challenge oppression as a result from the poor political and social conditions. On the other hand, David Ramsey discusses, in mixtape vignettes, the role of music to survive in New Orleans’ violent setting. Furthermore, “The Land where the Blues Began”, by Alan Lomax, is a film and perfect example to understand under what musical conditions profound ways of communication are made to stand the hard work of cotton plantations. As a result, music plays a crucial role in the sources’ cultures and its creation relies on particular conditions such as the social
Over the course of history, music has developed from a personal, academic pursuit to an extension of a global marketplace and an attribute of this global community. In order to better address this conversation and the surrounding idea, Feld utilizes the platform he has developed to pose the argument that music has long been cultivated as a means of communication and interaction. This relationship is developed and analyzed as a case study in this article, which happens to be in discussing a traditional lullaby first developed in the Solomon Islands, which was in turn recorded by a European pop group that sold millions of copies of a rendition of the song. Furthermore, the article goes to show the trend of music to be redistributed and developed in the sense that it is later reused by a popular jazz musician in Europe. Feld then begs the question about the nature of the redistribution of music and whether this facilitates a hybridization of music or an alienation and artistic degradation of the original work for the indigenous artists.
Some scholars theorize that the Middle Passage to the Americas was so traumatic that most African influence was eradicated, and that few traces of Africa exist in African-American music. This “cultural tabulala [sic] rasa” theory is rightfully rejected by many scholars (Wilson 3). The inflow of African people to the New World was brought on by the existence of slavery, and resulted in the creation of a sort of extension of the African continent in a different hemisphere. In his article “The Significance of the Relationship Between [sic] Afro-American Music and West African Music,” music scholar Olly Wilson refutes the tabula rasa theory, and provides extensive examples of the ties that continue to exist between the two distant geographical regions. Another prominent scholar who recognizes the integration of African elements in American musics is Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Though his much deeper and more analytical approach to African musics is divergent from Wilson’s, both scholars acknowledge African diaspora musics and examine them in different ways based on different criteria.
Angeles, Los. (2009). African arts. Volume 28. Published by African Studies Center, University of California.
Fullen, Matthew. "Characteristics of West African Music | EHow." EHow. Demand Media, 02 June 2011. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. .
African music is one that we all know to be upbeat and danceable. I chose to do my African musician research on Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba, who is also known as Papa Wemba. I chose him because of the fact that he has recently passed, so me choosing him in a way gives him respect. Papa Wemba was an influential asset of his time due to the fact that he was one of the most prosperous African musicians in world music. He was a famous, sometimes infamous Congolese singer/musician who played illustrious forms of Congolese rumba, soukous and ndombolo forms of music. He was not only a musical icon, but Papa Wemba was very fashionable. Papa Wemba's road to stardom began when he joined the music group “Zaiko Langa Langa,” whose name means
Monson, I. (2010).Freedom sounds : civil rights call out to jazz and Africa. New York Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Despite having absolutely nothing to do with the four elements of Hip-Hop as defined by Afrika Bambaataa, the most influential person in the creati...
Small, Christopher. Music of the Common Tongue: Survival and Celebration in African American Music. Hanover, NH: U of New England, 1998. Print
Powell, A. (2007). The Music of African Americans and its Impact on the American Culture in the 1960’s and the 1970’s. Miller African Centered Academy, 1. Retrieved from http://www.chatham.edu/pti/curriculum/units/2007/Powell.pdf
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