The first African recording to sell more than 100,000 copies was not a Western hit, but a Zulu a cappella song called Mbube, recorded by Solomon Linda and his group, the Original Evening Birds, in 1939. This recording would eventually evolve into the global phenomenon known as The Lion Sleeps Tonight, yet its origins lie in the specific cultural fusion of early 20th-century South Africa. The story begins with the discovery of gold and diamonds in the late 1800s, which triggered a massive migration of Black people from rural villages to urban centers like Johannesburg and Cape Town. These new urban dwellers lived in slums, as the Natives Land Act of 1913 forbade them from owning property in cities. In these cramped living conditions, shebeens emerged as secret bars where alcohol was sold and consumed illegally, creating a vibrant nightlife for mineworkers and the urban poor. It was within these shebeens that jazz fused with African traditional music to create Marabi, a style that became wildly popular by the end of the 1920s. Despite being associated with drug dealers and prostitution, and shunned by both White South Africans and the educated Black classes, Marabi thrived in the townships, laying the groundwork for future stars like Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela.
Hymns And The Shebeen Queens
Christianity arrived in South Africa during the 1600s with Dutch missionaries, but it was the arrival of missionaries from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States in the early 1800s that truly transformed the musical landscape. Churches and missionary schools were built throughout the country, teaching hymns sung in Europe and the US, which eventually led to the composition of new hymns in African languages. A prime example is Enoch Sontonga, who composed Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika in 1897, a song that would later become the Southern African national anthem. In the early 20th century, Zionist Christian churches spread across the nation, incorporating African musical elements into their gospel songs. By the 1990s, South African gospel had gained significant popularity with artists like Rebecca Malope and Lundi Tyamara, eventually leading to the emergence of Gqom gospel in the 21st century. Meanwhile, in the shebeens, women resorted to using their traditional beer brewing skills to make and sell Umqombothi, a traditional beer, to the new black urban class. These women became known as Shebeen Queens, providing a nightlife for people living in the slums where they were allowed to express themselves freely. This environment fostered the development of Marabi, which by the 1940s and 1950s had created many stars, including Miriam Makeba, Dolly Rathebe, Hugh Masekela, and Abdullah Ibrahim.
The Concertina And The Guitar
Traditionally styled music in South Africa, known as Sotho-traditional or Zulu-traditional, has been an important part of the music business since the 1930s. The Sotho musician Tshwatlano Makala was the first traditional musician to achieve widespread commercial success, setting the stage for the subsequent rise of Letsema Mat'sela's band, Basotho Dihoba, which used styles from his native Lesotho to develop a genre called mohobelo. By the 1970s, the concertina of Sotho-traditional music was replaced with an accordion and an electric backing band, led by Tau Ea Mat'sekha. In Zulu music, the guitar was adopted following its introduction by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, and guitars were locally and cheaply made by the 1930s. John Bhengu was the first major Zulu guitarist, earning a reputation in the 1950s in Durban for his unique ukupika style of picking. Bhengu's song format, which includes an instrumental introduction, a melody, and spoken praise for a clan or family, was widely used for a long time in Zulu-traditional music. Bhengu switched to the electric guitar in the late 1960s and began recording as Phuzushukela, causing his popularity to explode and entering Zulu-traditional music into a boom. Since the 1970s, the concertina has returned to Zulu-traditional music, while diverse influences from pop music and drum and bass were added. Vusi Ximba's Siyakudamisa, released in 1992, was perhaps the most memorable Zulu-traditional album of the later 20th century, drawing controversy for its racy, comedic lyrics.
Johnny Clegg got his start in the 1970s playing Zulu-traditional music with Sipho Mchunu, becoming prominent as the only major white musician playing traditional black music, achieving success in France as Le Zoulou Blanc. The 1980s also saw a resurgence in rock and roll bands, among them The Helicopters, Petit Cheval, Sterling, and Tellinger. Mango Groove has racked up a host of achievements throughout the years, firmly establishing itself as one of South Africa's most recognized and loved music icons. The group exploded into the national consciousness with the release of its 10 times Platinum debut album in 1989. Taking South African music to the world, Mango Groove was the only South African act invited to perform at the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China, the only South African act featured on The Freddie Mercury Tribute concert, appearing in front of 200,000 people at the SOS Racisme concert in Paris, and receiving 3 encores at the Montrieux Jazz Festival. Ladysmith Black Mambazo took their first step into the international arena via Paul Simon on his Graceland album in 1986, where a series of reissue albums by US label Shanachie sold very well. Mambazo became world travelers, touring the world and collaborating with various Western musicians to massive success. Graceland won many awards, including the Grammy Award for Best Album of the Year. A year later, Simon produced Black Mambazo's first U.S. release, Shaka Zulu, which won the Grammy Award in 1988 for Best Traditional Folk Album. Since then, the group has received fifteen Grammy Award Nominations and three Grammy Award wins, including one in 2009.
The Punk And The Metal Scene
During the punk rock boom of the late 1970s, UK and American punk music influenced South African bands, such as Wild Youth and Powerage, gaining a cult following focused in Durban and around Johannesburg. Bands such as Dog Detachment, The Radio Rats, and Young Dumb & Violent had a similar following on the fringes of the music scene. Cape Town had a big following with Safari Suits, Housewife's Choice, The Lancaster Band, The News, and Permanent Force, soon followed by The Rude Dementals, The Zero's, Fred Smith Band, Red Army, Riot Squad, Injury Time, and The Vipers. In Cape Town, many gigs took place at Scratch Club, 1886, UCT, Off The Road, numerous town halls, and other local venues. Some of the aforementioned bands passed through on tours, with the RIOT ROCK tour of December 1979 being a culmination of the period. National Wake was a multiracial punk rock band in the late 1970s, created in protest of the apartheid regime, and was South Africa's first multiracial punk band. In the early and mid-1980s, there were bands like Black Rose, Stretch, Razor, Tyrant, Lynx, Pentagon, Montreaux, Unchained, and Osiris. Then came the new breed of South African metal with a band called Ragnärok, South Africa's first thrash metal band, formed by Dean G Smith, who were labeled as South Africa's Metallica and the only metal band at that time to have a cult following. They formed in South Johannesburg in 1986, playing covers for a short while and then moving on to original music only. Aragorn, later Stryder from Pretoria, and Voice of Destruction from Cape Town, formed by Greg McEwan in 1986, followed. Through the late 1980s and into the early 1990s, South Africa grew a well-supported metal scene, marked by the release of Johannesburg-based Odysseys' self-titled album in 1991.
The Kwaito And The Electronic Revolution
Kwaito, a music genre that originated in Soweto, Johannesburg, in the 1980s and went mainstream in the 1990s, is a variation of house music characterized by the incorporation of African sounds and samples. Unlike other styles of house music, Kwaito songs typically have a slower tempo and feature catchy melodic and percussive loop samples, along with deep bass lines and vocals. Although it shares similarities with hip-hop, Kwaito has its own distinct approach to vocal delivery, blending singing, rapping, and shouting in a distinct manner. In 1994, South African media was liberalized, and new musical styles arose. Prophets of Da City became known as a premier hip-hop crew, though a South Africanized style of hip-hop known as Kwaito soon replaced actual hip-hop groups. Stars of Kwaito include Trompies, Bongo Maffin, TKZee, Mandoza, and Boom Shaka. The band Tree63 also emerged, first known for their hit single, A Million Lights, and then further popularized by their version of Matt Redman's Blessed Be Your Name. The 1990s also saw Jamaican music move towards ragga, an electronic style that was more influential on Kwaito than reggae. A group from the Free State called Oyaba also emerged during this period, with their best-known hit songs being Tomorrow Nation, Paradise, and Love Crazy. Reggae became quite popular, and there was also a singer from KwaZulu-Natal, Sipho Johnson, known as Jambo.
The Modern Sound And The Festivals
The music scene in South Africa is focused around four major areas: Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and Bloemfontein. One of the characteristics of the scene is the strong sense of community which sees artists, promoters, and venues all actively involved in developing local talent. Bloemfontein's music focus is centered predominantly around the metal and Afrikaans genres, while Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban are far more wide-ranging in the genres of music covered by bands and artists. Cape Town is a hotbed for the underground music scene, generally held to be more experimental than the music produced in the other centers. Potchefstroom seems to be the newest development ground for Afrikaans rock music, with various bands like Straatligkinders making their start here. The introduction of the South African Music Awards, intended to recognize accomplishment in the South African recording industry, has raised the awareness of local artists and bands. The awards are given in various categories, including album of the year, best newcomer, best artists, and the best duo or group. South Africa has several annual music festivals including Woodstock South Africa, MotherFudd, Oppikoppi, Rocking the Daisies, and Splashy Fen. The music festivals cater to different genres and styles of music. Motherfudd is an exclusively metal festival held early in the year. The 2008 Motherfudd festival had a line-up of 30 bands with 2 stages and took place near Hartebeespoort. The Oppikoppi festival started in 1994 and is held in Limpopo, near the mining town of Northam. Originally a rock festival, Oppikoppi has expanded to include other genres. Splashy Fen is an annual Easter festival held on a farm near Underberg in KwaZulu-Natal, with a focus on rock and reggae music. Since 2016, The Legend stage at Splashy, convened by Don Clarke and Dicky Roberts, has brought well-known local legends back to the festival, including P J Powers in 2019. Rocking the Daisies is an annual music festival which is held outside Cape Town in Darling on the Cloof wine estate. It was established in 2005 with a focus upon rock music and is a green festival for which it has garnered awards.