good article M-point
The first time I understood "Kwaito" as a new, distinct genre was around the time when I heard Arthur's Amagents and Mdu that must have been '93. Before that we had afro disco which unfortunately got branded "bubblegum" music. You had artists like Spokes H, Mercy Phakela, Rebecca|(lol), etc. Anybody remember Thiza?They paved the way for Kwaito.
Tkzee was way more refined and polished when they came out with their sound in the late nineties but it was good timing on their part.
Thank you very much for reading!!
I first thought that Kwaito was actually South African Hip-Hop when I heard it but a year later, I began to recognize the differences between SA Hip-Hop and Kwaito. Kwaito, as I mentioned in the article was a mix
of House, Township Pop, and Reggae as well as Hip-Hop. You mentioned about the "Bubblegum" days of Spokes H, Brenda Fa**ie, Rebecca, Chicco, and Freddie Gwala. As I also know, this was when Township Jazz became Township Pop. Township Jazz started to have more of a '80s New Wave, synthesizer, electro sound.
MM Deluxe (M'du, Spikiri, and Chicco) were said to be a "Bubblegum" group but added a House music sound, therefore paving the way for Kwaito. I remember reading somewhere that M'du originally called it
"Local House Music". Later, during the early '90s, Oskido and the Kalawa (later Kalawa-Jazzmee) troop called their music "d'Gong" as it had more of a Reggae, Soul, and Funk sound. When Arthur came out
(possibly around the same time period), he coined the term "Kwaito" even though it was probably used
before him.
Then during the late '90s, the Hardcore Hip Hop sound arrived with TKZee, Chiskop, Mapaputsi, Skomplazi,
Msawawa, Mzambiya, Mshoza, etc....................then today, it goes to more Afro-Electro sound.
What I would actually like to have are the tapes from the early days of Kwaito (1988-1994). There was
LA Beat (Joe Nina and M'du), Mixmasters volume 1-9 (Oskido), and the Groove City Mixtapes (Arthur, Tim
White, Gabi LaRoux). Anyone familiar with those tapes???
