Kwaito Kingdom

King of Kwaito

THERE are few more captivating music personalities in South Africa than Arthur Mafokate.

A musician, singer, producer, performer, songwriter and television personality, Arthur (or Mr Vuvuzela as he’s also known) is undeniably one of the country’s most loved individuals: At the FNB South African Music Awards, Arthur scooped the rest of the music industry to take home the award for Song of the Year. A new category, Song of the Year is voted for by the South African music listening public and the success of Arthur’s song, Oyi Oyi, in a year when the competition was strong is indicative of his enduring appeal for his hundreds of thousands of fans.

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Queen of Kwaito

Mshoza The Queen Of kwaito

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Nomasonto Maswanganyi AKA Mshoza. Anyone not familiar with the name Mshoza needs to listen to her latest release and they’ll realise that she is both Kwaito star and pantsula artist extraordinaire.

Bulldawgz Records which had brought the country hit-making, charismatic kiddie stars Mzambiya and Msawawa introduced the country to a female vocalist named Mshoza with her debut album “Bulldawgz First Lady”… Mshoza is arguably THE female Kwaito artist!

Mshoza was first discovered on the youth variety show “Jam Alley” (SABC1). She burst onto the scene with the hit single “Kortes” which she featured Kwaito kid sensation Mzambiya. In 2003 she released her follow up album called “Bhoza”. This album spawned the hits “Piti”, “My Angel” and “UMshoza yiBhoza”.

What is Kwaito?

Kwaito

Kwaito is a form of South African music and lifestyle. It developed in the early 1990s in the townships of Johannesburg. It is popular all over southern africa--Namibia, Lesotho, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania. Kwaito can mean "ferocious", "hot tempered", and "awesome."

Kwaito is marked by programmed beats, call and response pattern, and repetitive lyrics. Early kwaito was apolitical (devoid of any political message), a break from the older generation, which featured much politically laced lyrics. Lyrically, Kwaito became post-Apartheid, new, and youthful. It has gotten a lot of controversal press for being lyrically misogynistic, use of excessive profanity, materialism, and violence. It is sang in tsotsitaal, a mix language of street slang, Afrikaaner, Sotho, Zulu, and Xhosa. Tsotsi means thug in Afrikaaner. Taal means language.

Kwaito had its beginning in the early 1990s. Djs in Johannesburg began to experiment with electronic music, techno, house, hip-hop, and ragga. They began to give it a South African feel. Township Dj's began to add the melodies, harmonies, and rhythm patterns of Bubblegum(South African disco), Mbaqanga, Mpantsula, and South African gospel creatiing a distinct sound. The music became part of the youth underground. Artist sold their music on the streets and via independent record labels. It became a lifestyle, a way of dress, and talk, rooted in the poor townships--the lowest order of South African society.

Examples of KWAITO ART, STYLE, MUSIC AND ENVIROMENT