The House in South Africa

House Music has had a tremendous impact on today’s dance and pop music. Some of the best producers of House Music were instrumental in the success of world-wide dance hits by divas such as Janet Jackson, Kylie Minogue, and Madonna. Despite it mingling with the mainstream – the genre has kept its underground origins.

House Music had its cradle in Chicago’s African American LGBT subculture, expanding to New York and, from there, to the rest of the world. The music style was developed by post-disco-era DJs and producers such as the legendary Frankie Knuckles (1955 – 2014). The Grammy-winning producer, who was the resident DJ at the seminal nightclub WareHouse in Chicago in the late ’70s and early ’80s, inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in 2005 for his vast body of work. Ron Hardy (1958 – 1992) and Larry levan (1954 – 1992) – are two other prime examples of influential DJ’s who left their footprint in the global dance electronic music.

Through the mid-80s to the digital era, House Music expanded significantly. It was diversified into different styles and subgenres and important artistic collaborations between great singers, artists, and producers were established. Even more importantly, scenes and sounds typical of very specific areas in the world were created. A good example of this is the Parisian Scene where, during the 90s and early 2000s, DJs/producers like Daft Punk, Bob Sinclar, Stardust, Cassius, St. Germain, and DJ Falcon were classified as The French House Movement. Other prolific American and European scenes included Berlin, Barcelona, Amsterdam, London, Detroit, and New York.

Even though House Music was associated with American and European clubbing scenes, the genre has, until recently, been overlooked in the African music scene. Such is the case in some of South Africa’s biggest cities – Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban. American and European productions were initially an inspiration in these cities, but they very quickly developed their own style of House Music. Surprisingly enough, this unique African sound developed at the same pace as in Europe and the US, or even faster.

South Africa’s music tradition is both ancestral and diverse. Music styles like Mbaqanga, Township Jive, SA Jazz, as well as traditional Zulu, Xhosa, Venda, Sotho, and Ndebele music are all considered ancestors of Kwaito – the music style that pioneered the urban electronic music of South Africa we hear today!

Kwaito
In the mid ‘90s, Nelson Mandela took office as the first democratically elected president of South Africa. This moment would go down as the turning point for South Africa and the people from townships such as Soweto, Nyanga, and Umlazi (where kwaito gradually started to appear), in particular, as emancipation and freedom were at the center of people’s emotional state. Ironically enough, the word ‘Kwaito’ is derived from the Afrikaans ‘kwaai’ which is often used as a slang term equivalent to the english ‘hot’.

Kwaito transformed the post-Apartheid township subculture into the mainstream through its irresistible dance beats. The pioneering Kwaito artist M’du Masilela, once stated: “When house music got popular, people from the ghetto called it Kwaito after the Afrikaans slang word kwai, meaning those house tracks were hot, that they were kicking.”

One of the most innovative DJs from Soweto at the time was DJ Oskido who claimed he created Kwaito back in 1990 after listening to the hit ‘Show Me Love’ by Robin S. He then took the Chicago sound, deepened the bass, slowed it down, and brought rappers into the mix to create uniquely South African dance music.

In those times TKZee was probably the first international Kwaito superstar group. Their album ‘Halloween’, was huge, with smash singles “Dlala Mapansula”, “Mambotjie” & “We Love This Place”. The album went Platinum, earning them a SAMA (South African Music Awards) in 1998 for the Best Kwaito Album. I would consider that their biggest achievement, however, was their impact on the re-validation of black urban culture in post-apartheid South Africa.  TKZee lyrics were not directly political but about issues in the community which everyone in the townships could relate to. For once, the black youth could express themselves without limitations. With Apartheid gone, the youth of the townships were making their own freedom statement through music.

Kwaito became the core of South African House Music that has expanded to the magnitude of a cultural phenomenon. Today Kwaito style is present not only in music but in fashion and lifestyle as well. What started as the music style of the people from the townships is now a mainstreamed channel to a better life and future for many. While in Europe House Music belonged to the clubs and festivals, in South Africa it belonged to the streets!

The best way to describe South African House Music is to borrow German ethnologist and DJ, Tim Simmer’s description: “...the essential elements of House in South Africa: highly percussive beats, smooth pianos and horns borrowed from Soul and Jazz, warm chords and, above all, soulful vocals – always mixed on point, never too noisy, always understated. That’s why the feature’s author Tobias Fischer describes South African House as the “soul of the twenty-first century”.

South Africa today is packed with talented producers and DJs who provide the soundtrack of the end of the decade. The number of local sub-genres performed across the country is stunning. It includes Johannesburg’s Kwaito scene, which has upped the tempo in recent years, Durban’s own sound ‘visions’ which laid the foundations for the raw, minimal, bouncy style called Gqom, and Limpopo’s electro Shangaan scene.

I have some personal favourites among South African DJs such as Culoe De Song, who in 2009 with Bright Forest EP, brought underground Afro House to the attention of international clubbers, DJ Themba (Euphonik), Kid Fonque, Jullian Gomes, 2lani The Warrior, the multi-talented Spoek Mathambo, and the late Dukesoul (1986-2016).  However, one can’t speak about South African House Music scene without mentioning Black Coffee -a legend in South Africa and one of the most successful DJs in the world today!

Nathi Maphumulo Aka. Black Coffee (B. Durban 1976) is one of South Africa’s best-known DJs, mixing soulful vocals with bright African polyrhythms and jazz. His style of Afropolitan House is, as he stated: “home-brewed but future-focused.”

Black Coffee’s recording career started in 2005 with a remix of Hugh Masekela’s 1972 hit “Stimela”. He built his brand back in as an international DJ by licensing his early music to different labels around the world. This was a move that paid off by getting him booked to play wherever these labels operated, as well as introduced him to international producers and business outside South Africa. In a way, he was showcasing African music, opening the western stage not only for himself but for other African producers and DJs as well. Currently Black Coffee has five solo albums, among them ‘Pieces of Me’ (Released in 2015), which has been certified double platinum in South Africa.

Black Coffee is a global artist and icon, who has fully embraced his role as an artist-entrepreneur. With a career moving at an incredible speed, the strategic approach of the team around him is critical to the success of everything he is involved in. He is deeply committed to work in the best interest of young artists and musicians in South Africa. Launching his own Johannesburg-based record label, Soulistic Music, investing in music startups and developing Gongbox -a music streaming service dedicated to African music. He has also created The DJ Black Coffee Foundation to contribute towards nation-building and the rehabilitation of the country. He furthermore initiated a scholarship program for the funding of Sound Production qualifications for physically challenged and disadvantaged students.

Nathi Maphumulo’s work is an inspiration for many in South Africa and overseas as he himself has overcome great personal limitations and adversities. Some of his difficulties involved coming from a cow-milking childhood and a disastrous accident during his teens that cost him the movement of his left arm. Besides music, he has set a commitment to change the way the world perceives the African continent. Through innovation technology he is helping to change the narrative of Africa for the 21st century.

I have to say that it was exciting for me to write about South Africa and the music that unified its people. I recently read a quote by the late Frankie Knuckles saying: “House Music isn’t black or white. It just is. It feels good & it feels right.” – and I believe those feelings were latent in the mid 90’s when Apartheid came to an end, because freedom “It feels good & It feels right”. There may be complex problems still to be solved, but for sure the path laid out through music has been positive and enlightening. Much Love!⊛

Dedicated to my uncle Ronald Herboldt
A freedom fighter of South Africa.