living in SA, i hear it a lot, and so far i've really been little more than a casual listener (insofar as any music-obsessive can listen casually, i suppose). the absence of that must-hear compulsiveness that i get from/give to rap and grime and dancehall etc trouble me, because 'rap + house' should theoretically be my dream genre right now. i've talked abt this problem on other threads, and it's not really what i want this one to be (all) about. i'd be really interested to hear the reactions of non-s.africans to the music, it'd help me in understanding my own responses i think.
there's currently and interesting dialectic between straight-up (or, at least, straighter-up) sa hiphop and kwaito - sometimes inclusive (kwaito mc's guesting on hiphop tracks), sometimes oppositional (kwaito?/yeah i tried it/didn't like it) - which might be interesting to talk about here too.
― m. (mitchlnw), Friday, 21 January 2005 22:45 (twenty-one years ago)
― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 21 January 2005 22:53 (twenty-one years ago)
― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 21 January 2005 22:55 (twenty-one years ago)
― m. (mitchlnw), Friday, 21 January 2005 23:50 (twenty-one years ago)
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Saturday, 22 January 2005 00:05 (twenty-one years ago)
When I saw the Mahotello Queens here in Washington D.C. nearly 2 years ago, the d.j. played what I guess was kwaito after their set. It brought folks to the dancefloor.
― steve-k, Saturday, 22 January 2005 05:55 (twenty-one years ago)
― m. (mitchlnw), Saturday, 22 January 2005 09:00 (twenty-one years ago)
― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Saturday, 22 January 2005 09:07 (twenty-one years ago)
I keep meaning to go to Stern's here in NY and see what kind of selection they have. It's otherwise kind of hard to find. So what does actual S.A. hip-hop sound like? More like American hip-hop, less housey?
― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Saturday, 22 January 2005 09:20 (twenty-one years ago)
gypsy, was the comp the one that was subtitled something like "south african hip-hop"? i never actually saw that one, though i remember looking at the tracklist and thinking it was alright, if a little dated.
sa hiphop intially sounded very much like rawkus-y american rap - sample based, lyrically conscious. and the surrounding press encourage the view of that this was the youth music that'd serve as the medium for politically and culturally progressive narratives, as opposed to kwaito's dance party hedonism (though kwaito always had it's share of morality tales and such, really). lately sa's rap's getting.. rappier (synthier, bouncier, hotter)(i'm thinking of skwatta kamp here, specifically. but still in a way that's derivative of accepted US rap styles (tho the mc's swap between english and other local dialects - zulu, sesotho - when rapping). but any nods to local musical heritage tend towards the superficial - a sample of a s. african folk hymn or somesuch, as opposed to a 'deeper', formal integration. the other day i was flicking through radio channels and heard two consecutive tracks (unfortunately unnamed) that seemed to offer a genuine middle path - a leaner, trackier rap at dance/club tempo (faster than kwaito even, which often runs at 80bpm, torpid by 4/4 standards), with non-english mcing. and hooky too! i must find out what's going on.
― m. (mitchlnw), Saturday, 22 January 2005 10:15 (twenty-one years ago)
― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Sunday, 23 January 2005 08:13 (twenty-one years ago)
― m. (mitchlnw), Sunday, 23 January 2005 10:26 (twenty-one years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 23 October 2006 21:55 (nineteen years ago)
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Tuesday, 24 October 2006 12:18 (nineteen years ago)
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Wednesday, 25 October 2006 04:37 (nineteen years ago)
some good tracks on here...
https://daily.bandcamp.com/2018/06/11/kwaito-house-music-feature/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_content=Kwaito+House+Music
― Dark Mavis (Michael B), Tuesday, 12 June 2018 23:32 (eight years ago)
Just released on Awesome Tapes From Africa—Moskito “Idoiar” LP/CD/Tape/Digital (South Africa, 2001) ATFA052
Rugged and funky kwaito that didn’t really get its due upon release. Hope you have a chance to listen. I have been djing this tape for years and it’s cool to see people enjoying it.
Brian from Awesome Tapes
His reissue of the tape was a bandcamp album of the day
https://daily.bandcamp.com/album-of-the-day/moskito-idolar-review
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 4 June 2025 15:42 (one year ago)