Mbaqanga
Encyclopedia
Mbaqanga is a style of South Africa
n music
with rural
Zulu
roots that continues to influence musicians worldwide today. The style originated in the early 1960s.
(1950) initially prevented people from integrating from different tribal communities, consequently making it almost impossible for most music artists to gain recognition beyond their tribal boundaries. The music genre mbaganga developed during this time (1960s) and to this day most of the major record labels are white owned companies with very few black artists that have contributed to their own material.
In Zulu, the term mbaqanga means an everyday cornmeal porridge, which is worth noting, considering the history of the music's popularity. Mbaqanga aficionados were mostly plebeian, metropolitan African jazz
enthusiasts. Many of them were not permitted to establish themselves in the city, but they were unable to sustain themselves in the rural country. Mbaqanga gave them a staple form of musical and spiritual sustenance; it was their "musical daily bread."
Mbaqanga musicians received little money. For example, Simon Mahlathini Nkabinde
, one of the most well-known mbaqanga singers (and arguably the most famous mbaqanga "groaner", nicknamed the "lion of Soweto"), died a poor man. This was partly due to the exploitation of black South African musicians at home and abroad as Mahlathini pointed out. Mbaqanga groups of the 1960s also found it difficult to get air time on local radio stations, and had to perform outside record stores to attract audiences.
Mbaqanga developed in the South African shebeen
s during the 1960s. Its use of western instruments allowed mbaqanga to develop into a South African version of jazz
. Musically, the sound indicated a mix between western instrumentation and South African vocal style. Many mbaqanga scholars consider it to be the result of a coalition between marabi
and kwela
. A South African tourist website sponsored by the government describes mbaqanga as "the cyclic structure of marabi . . . with a heavy dollop of American big band swing thrown on top." Mbaqanga also provided a very early forum for black and white interaction in a segregated country. As a result, the "white Nationalist government brought this vital era to an end" by razing the townships that supported mbaqanga such as Sophiatown.
The genre gained popularity as a result of radio play by stations under the South African Broadcasting Corporation
. Early artists included Miriam Makeba
, Dolly Rathebe
and Letta Mbulu
. Mbaqanga maintained its popularity until the 1980s when it was replaced by South African pop music known as bubblegum
. Bubblegum
is a genre highly influenced by mbaqanga. One of the few remaining mbaqanga bands is The Cool Crooners. This band consists of a coalition between two rival bands that eventually merged: The Cool Four and The Golden Delicious Rhythm Crooners.
, which had since the 1930s offered a black urban lifestyle. Sophiatown and Alexandra were rare "freehold" areas where blacks could own property. Its proximity to Johannesburg's downtown area made Sophiatown attractive to performers eager to explore new avenues of music. The area became an important seed-bed for the rapidly developing black musical culture. But when Sophiatown's residents were forcibly removed to newly-formed townships such as Soweto
, outside Johannesburg, this era came to an end.
One of the earliest innovators of mbaqanga was the Makgona Tsohle Band
, a group comprising five domestic workers from Pretoria - Marks Mankwane (lead guitar), Joseph Makwela (bass guitar), Vivian Ngubane (rhythm guitar), Lucky Monama (drums) and West Nkosi (saxophone). Mbaqanga, a Zulu word for steamed cornbread, fused marabi
and kwela
influences. The cyclic structure of marabi
melded with traditional dance styles such as the Zulu indlamu
, combined with big band swing. The indlamu input developed into the "African stomp" style, giving a notably African rhythmic impulse to the music and making it quite irresistible to its new audiences.
Rupert Bopape, enticed by the successful Gallo Record Company
to be their African production manager, brought together the musicians of the Makgona Tsohle Band with Mahlathini and a new female chorus, the Mahotella Queens
. This was when mbaqanga really took off - or more specifically, "vocal mbaqanga" (later nicknamed simanje-manje or mgqashiyo). In addition to Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens
, singing stars such as Miriam Makeba
, Dolly Rathebe
and Letta Mbulu
(who had all began as marabi stars during the '50s) created a large base of fans, as did the Dark City Sisters
and the Soul Brothers. Other mbaqanga musicians included Simon Baba Mokoena and West Nkosi
, who broke away from the Makgona Tsohle Band in 1990 for a successful solo career until his death in 1998.
album (1986) and subsequent tour. Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens' appearances at festivals in France and at Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday concert in Wembley Stadium, London in 1988 signalled its return. White South African musicians influenced by this style include singer song-writer Robin Auld
http://www.dorpstraat.co.za/Community/Program/83.aspx. Veteran Afrikaans piano accordion player Nico Carstens
produced a boereqanga hit with Viva Madiba.
Mbaqanga was fully replaced as the dominant music genre in the 1980s by a new urban genre called ‘bubblegum.’ An Afro-dance pop, Bubblegum was mainly influenced by mbaqanga and other popular African styles. With the introduction of television in 1976, this musical genre was promoted as music across all ethnic groups. Characterized as a representation of a move towards music that was more urban than traditional, the Bubblegum genre had many successful musicians, including Chico Twala http://www.music.org.za/artist.asp?id=109, Yvonne Chaka Chaka
and Brenda Fassie
. The derivation of mbaqanga into bubblegum contributed enormously towards the development of kwaito
.
Several mbaqanga acts are still recording and performing today, including the Mahotella Queens and the Soul Brothers. Mbaqanga also continues to influence musicians worldwide. For example, the Norwegian group Real Ones
included a tribute track, All the Way Back (Shades of Mbaqanga), on their 2003 album This is Camping.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
with rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
Zulu
Zulu music
The Zulu are a South African ethnic group. Many Zulu musicians have become a major part of South African music. A number of Zulu-folk derived styles have also become well-known across South Africa and abroad.-Mbube and Isicathamiya:...
roots that continues to influence musicians worldwide today. The style originated in the early 1960s.
History
Historically, laws such as the Land Act of 1913 to the Group Areas ActGroup Areas Act
The Group Areas Act of 1950 was an act of parliament created under the apartheid government of South Africa on 27th April 1950. The act assigned racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas in a system of urban apartheid...
(1950) initially prevented people from integrating from different tribal communities, consequently making it almost impossible for most music artists to gain recognition beyond their tribal boundaries. The music genre mbaganga developed during this time (1960s) and to this day most of the major record labels are white owned companies with very few black artists that have contributed to their own material.
In Zulu, the term mbaqanga means an everyday cornmeal porridge, which is worth noting, considering the history of the music's popularity. Mbaqanga aficionados were mostly plebeian, metropolitan African jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
enthusiasts. Many of them were not permitted to establish themselves in the city, but they were unable to sustain themselves in the rural country. Mbaqanga gave them a staple form of musical and spiritual sustenance; it was their "musical daily bread."
Mbaqanga musicians received little money. For example, Simon Mahlathini Nkabinde
Mahlathini
Simon 'Mahlathini' Nkabinde was a South African mbaqanga singer. Known as the "Lion of Soweto" Nkabinde is the acknowledged exponent of the deep-voiced, basso profundo "groaning" style that came to symbolize mbaqanga music in the 1960s...
, one of the most well-known mbaqanga singers (and arguably the most famous mbaqanga "groaner", nicknamed the "lion of Soweto"), died a poor man. This was partly due to the exploitation of black South African musicians at home and abroad as Mahlathini pointed out. Mbaqanga groups of the 1960s also found it difficult to get air time on local radio stations, and had to perform outside record stores to attract audiences.
Mbaqanga developed in the South African shebeen
Shebeen
A shebeen was originally an illicit bar or club where excisable alcoholic beverages were sold without a licence.The term has spread far from its origins in Ireland, to Scotland, Canada, the United States, England,...
s during the 1960s. Its use of western instruments allowed mbaqanga to develop into a South African version of jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
. Musically, the sound indicated a mix between western instrumentation and South African vocal style. Many mbaqanga scholars consider it to be the result of a coalition between marabi
Marabi
Marabi is an indigenous music that evolved in South Africa over the last century.The early part of the 20th century saw the increasing urbanisation of black South Africans in mining centres such as the gold mining area around Johannesburg - the Witwatersrand...
and kwela
Kwela
Kwela is a happy, often pennywhistle-based, street music from southern Africa with jazzy underpinnings and a distinctive, skiffle-like beat. It evolved from the marabi sound and brought South African music to international prominence in the 1950s....
. A South African tourist website sponsored by the government describes mbaqanga as "the cyclic structure of marabi . . . with a heavy dollop of American big band swing thrown on top." Mbaqanga also provided a very early forum for black and white interaction in a segregated country. As a result, the "white Nationalist government brought this vital era to an end" by razing the townships that supported mbaqanga such as Sophiatown.
The genre gained popularity as a result of radio play by stations under the South African Broadcasting Corporation
South African Broadcasting Corporation
The South African Broadcasting Corporation is the state-owned broadcaster in South Africa and provides 18 radio stations as well as 3 television broadcasts to the general public.-Early years:Radio broadcasting began in South Africa in 1923...
. Early artists included Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....
, Dolly Rathebe
Dolly Rathebe
Dolly Rathebe was a South African musician and actress.Dolly Rathebe was born in Randfontein in South Africa but grew up in Sophiatown which she describes as having been "a wonderful place". She was discovered around 1948 after singing at a picnic in Johannesburg...
and Letta Mbulu
Letta Mbulu
Letta Mbulu is a South African jazz singer born and raised in Soweto. She has been active since the 1960s, but left for the United States in 1965 due to Apartheid. In the U.S. she worked with Cannonball Adderley, David Axelrod and Harry Belafonte...
. Mbaqanga maintained its popularity until the 1980s when it was replaced by South African pop music known as bubblegum
Bubblegum
Bubblegum is a type of elastic chewing gum, designed to be blown out of the mouth as a bubble.-History:In 1928, Walter Diemer, an accountant for the Fleer Chewing Gum Company in Philadelphia, was experimenting with new gum recipes. One recipe was found to be less sticky than regular chewing gum,...
. Bubblegum
Bubblegum
Bubblegum is a type of elastic chewing gum, designed to be blown out of the mouth as a bubble.-History:In 1928, Walter Diemer, an accountant for the Fleer Chewing Gum Company in Philadelphia, was experimenting with new gum recipes. One recipe was found to be less sticky than regular chewing gum,...
is a genre highly influenced by mbaqanga. One of the few remaining mbaqanga bands is The Cool Crooners. This band consists of a coalition between two rival bands that eventually merged: The Cool Four and The Golden Delicious Rhythm Crooners.
Formation
By the middle of the 1950s, the evolving indigenous South African music exploded in popularity given its increased reach to a massively growing urban population. A typical area was the township of Sophiatown, near JohannesburgJohannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, which had since the 1930s offered a black urban lifestyle. Sophiatown and Alexandra were rare "freehold" areas where blacks could own property. Its proximity to Johannesburg's downtown area made Sophiatown attractive to performers eager to explore new avenues of music. The area became an important seed-bed for the rapidly developing black musical culture. But when Sophiatown's residents were forcibly removed to newly-formed townships such as Soweto
Soweto
Soweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...
, outside Johannesburg, this era came to an end.
One of the earliest innovators of mbaqanga was the Makgona Tsohle Band
Makgona Tsohle Band
The Makgona Tsohle Band was a South African instrumental band that is noted for creating the mbaqanga music style. The group was formed in 1964 at Mavuthela , and became the Mavuthela house band. It garnered success by backing fellow Mavuthela-Gallo stars, Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens...
, a group comprising five domestic workers from Pretoria - Marks Mankwane (lead guitar), Joseph Makwela (bass guitar), Vivian Ngubane (rhythm guitar), Lucky Monama (drums) and West Nkosi (saxophone). Mbaqanga, a Zulu word for steamed cornbread, fused marabi
Marabi
Marabi is an indigenous music that evolved in South Africa over the last century.The early part of the 20th century saw the increasing urbanisation of black South Africans in mining centres such as the gold mining area around Johannesburg - the Witwatersrand...
and kwela
Kwela
Kwela is a happy, often pennywhistle-based, street music from southern Africa with jazzy underpinnings and a distinctive, skiffle-like beat. It evolved from the marabi sound and brought South African music to international prominence in the 1950s....
influences. The cyclic structure of marabi
Marabi
Marabi is an indigenous music that evolved in South Africa over the last century.The early part of the 20th century saw the increasing urbanisation of black South Africans in mining centres such as the gold mining area around Johannesburg - the Witwatersrand...
melded with traditional dance styles such as the Zulu indlamu
Indlamu
Indlamu is a traditional Zulu dance from South Africa where the dancer lifts one foot over his head and brings it down hard, landing squarely on the downbeat. Typically, two dancers in warrior's pelts perform indlamu routines together, shadowing each other's moves perfectly...
, combined with big band swing. The indlamu input developed into the "African stomp" style, giving a notably African rhythmic impulse to the music and making it quite irresistible to its new audiences.
Rupert Bopape, enticed by the successful Gallo Record Company
Gallo Record Company
Gallo Record Company is the largest record label in Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is owned by Avusa Limited . The current Gallo Record Company is a hybrid of two rival South African record labels between the '40s and '80s: the original Gallo Africa and G.R.C...
to be their African production manager, brought together the musicians of the Makgona Tsohle Band with Mahlathini and a new female chorus, the Mahotella Queens
Mahotella Queens
The Mahotella Queens are a South African singing group formed in 1964 comprising Hilda Tloubatla, Nobesuthu Mbadu and Mildred Mangxola...
. This was when mbaqanga really took off - or more specifically, "vocal mbaqanga" (later nicknamed simanje-manje or mgqashiyo). In addition to Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens
Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens
Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens was a South African mbaqanga supergroup composed of:...
, singing stars such as Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba , nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award winning South African singer and civil rights activist....
, Dolly Rathebe
Dolly Rathebe
Dolly Rathebe was a South African musician and actress.Dolly Rathebe was born in Randfontein in South Africa but grew up in Sophiatown which she describes as having been "a wonderful place". She was discovered around 1948 after singing at a picnic in Johannesburg...
and Letta Mbulu
Letta Mbulu
Letta Mbulu is a South African jazz singer born and raised in Soweto. She has been active since the 1960s, but left for the United States in 1965 due to Apartheid. In the U.S. she worked with Cannonball Adderley, David Axelrod and Harry Belafonte...
(who had all began as marabi stars during the '50s) created a large base of fans, as did the Dark City Sisters
Dark City Sisters
The Dark City Sisters were a South African female vocal group, who formed in 1958 and recorded several hit records in the 1960s, helping usher in a new style of South African music later brought to global prominence by the Mahotella Queens....
and the Soul Brothers. Other mbaqanga musicians included Simon Baba Mokoena and West Nkosi
West Nkosi
West Nkosi was a South African music producer, saxophonist and songwriter.Nkosi was born in Nelspruit, South Africa. He was an original member of the Makgona Tsohle Band which backed Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens...
, who broke away from the Makgona Tsohle Band in 1990 for a successful solo career until his death in 1998.
International popularity
Mbaqanga's popularity faded during the 1970s because of the influence of Western pop, soul and disco into South Africa. Public performances declined because labor migrants no longer wanted to be in the spotlight. Additionally, audiences sought more urbanized language, vocal, and instrumental styles. However, it was revived between 1983 and 1986. The reversal of fortunes was in part due to Paul Simon's incorporation of South African music into his GracelandGraceland (album)
Graceland was Paul Simon's highest charting album in the U.S. in over a decade, reaching #3 in the national Billboard charts, receiving a certification of 5× Platinum by the RIAA and eventually selling over 14 million copies, making it Simon's most commercially successful album...
album (1986) and subsequent tour. Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens' appearances at festivals in France and at Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday concert in Wembley Stadium, London in 1988 signalled its return. White South African musicians influenced by this style include singer song-writer Robin Auld
Robin Auld
Sir Robin Ernest Auld was a Lord Justice of Appeal in the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.Sir Robin was educated at Brooklands College and King's College London. He graduated with a first class honours degree in Law in 1958, obtained a doctorate in Law in 1963, and he became a Fellow of...
http://www.dorpstraat.co.za/Community/Program/83.aspx. Veteran Afrikaans piano accordion player Nico Carstens
Nico Carstens
Nicolaas Cornelius Carstens is a South African accordionist and songwriter.Born in Cape Town of Dutch parents, Carstens got his first accordion at the age of 13 and won an adult music competition six months later...
produced a boereqanga hit with Viva Madiba.
Mbaqanga was fully replaced as the dominant music genre in the 1980s by a new urban genre called ‘bubblegum.’ An Afro-dance pop, Bubblegum was mainly influenced by mbaqanga and other popular African styles. With the introduction of television in 1976, this musical genre was promoted as music across all ethnic groups. Characterized as a representation of a move towards music that was more urban than traditional, the Bubblegum genre had many successful musicians, including Chico Twala http://www.music.org.za/artist.asp?id=109, Yvonne Chaka Chaka
Yvonne Chaka Chaka
Yvonne Chaka Chaka is a South African singer.Dubbed the "Princess of Africa", Chaka Chaka has been at the forefront of South African popular music for 20 years...
and Brenda Fassie
Brenda Fassie
Brenda Fassie , was a South African pop singer. She was known for her "outrageousness" and widely considered a voice for disenfranchised blacks during apartheid. She was affectionately known as the Queen of African Pop and her nickname amongst fans was Mabrr.-Biography:Brenda was born in Langa,...
. The derivation of mbaqanga into bubblegum contributed enormously towards the development of kwaito
Kwaito
Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Johannesburg, South Africa, during the 1990s. It is a variant of house music featuring the use of African sounds and samples. Typically at a slower tempo range than other styles of house music, Kwaito often contains catchy melodic and percussive loop samples,...
.
Several mbaqanga acts are still recording and performing today, including the Mahotella Queens and the Soul Brothers. Mbaqanga also continues to influence musicians worldwide. For example, the Norwegian group Real Ones
Real Ones
Real Ones is a pop/rock band from Bergen, Norway, which was formed in 1994, when the members were 14 and 15 years of age. Band members include Ivar Vogt, Jørgen Sandvik, Kåre Opheim, Øystein Skjælaaen, and David Vogt....
included a tribute track, All the Way Back (Shades of Mbaqanga), on their 2003 album This is Camping.