Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Playlist: South African dance music

Writing about “Zero Tolerance” made me nostaligic for the South African music I was turned on to during my visit to Joburg in 2000.

So I’m streaming a few tracks by producer Arthur Mafokate (or just “Arthur”), who is called the “King of Kwaito.”

Kwaito is the popular South African style of dance music combining house and hip-hop. It’s hot.

Click the songs titles below to hear what Arthur is about. (“Yiyo Lendawo” is included on the CD samplers “Kwaito: South African Hip Hop” and “Tales of Urban S.A.,” which are easy to find. The other tracks... not so much.)

1. “Seven Phezulu”

2. “Yiyo Lendawo”

3. “Club Temple”

4. “Jwaela Kabi”

5. “Kwasa Kwasa”

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

anks for this. Bongo Maffin are really good too.

Undercover Black Man said...

^ I agree.

AQUILOGY said...

you just reminded me of how much i hate kwaito, thnx

bklyn6 said...

I loved Chicago house music, so I feel me some kwaito! :-D

Batocchio said...

Neat. I also the choral work of Ladysmith...

Undercover Black Man said...

I loved Chicago house music, so I feel me some kwaito!

I'll never forget how I got turned on, Bklyn6. Simon and me had a young brother who drove us around. One day we went out to the Sun City resort for a gambling break, and dude had music pumping on the radio that sounded like London club music.

It took me a while to get my head around the fact that that house vibe, much more so than hip-hop, is the ghetto groove of choice in S.A.

Undercover Black Man said...

Aquilogy: You don't like Arthur?? What do you be listening to? What's the new hot shit in Soweto?

AQUILOGY said...

Right now whats hot in soweto is DJ cleo, hip hop pantsula and bricks

Undercover Black Man said...

^ Thanks. I will check 'em out.