Marrabenta is a popular style of Mozambican

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

combining traditional Mozambican dance rhythms with Portuguese folk music. It was developed in

Maputo Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the Capital city, capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a popul ...

, the capital city of

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

, during the 1930s and 1940s.

Etymology

The name may be derived from the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

word ''rebentar'' (''arrabentar'' in the local vernacular), which means "to break". This may refer to the cheap musical instruments used in this music, which are often played energetically until they fall apart. Vocalist Dilon Djindji claims this refers to the energetic performances he delivered while on tour across

, as the intensity and vitality of his shows led audiences to believe that he was 'breaking' the emotional limits of those in attendance. The musicians who played Marrabenta came to be called ''arrabenta''. Over time, the name ''Marrabenta'' has grown in popularity and continues to be used today.

History

Marrabenta gained national popularity in

during the 1930s and 1940s while the nation was still under Portuguese colonial rule. Before the popularity of Marrabenta, Portuguese musicians in Mozambique played

fado Fado (; "destiny, fate") is a music genre that can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar Rui Vieira Nery states that "the only reliable information on the history of fado was ...

, a type of traditional Portuguese folk music. These musicians introduced the traditional orchestration and other influences of fado, such as the use of guitars, mandolins, drum sets, and other conventional Western instruments, to

. The

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, as a site for cultural interaction, also played a role in the development of the new genre, contributing influences of tonal harmony and the basic use of progressions like I-IV-V. Mozambican musicians combined the influences of

church music Church music is Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. History Early Christian music The onl ...

, secular Western music, and

African rhythms Sub-Saharan African music is characterised by a "strong rhythmic interest" that exhibits common characteristics in all regions of this vast territory, so that Arthur Morris Jones (1889–1980) has described the many local approaches as consti ...

to create an entirely new genre. Dance rhythms are a primary feature of traditional African music. In trying to duplicate these traditional sounds on new western instruments, Mozambican musicians created a new style of dance music, which quickly gained popularity among the youth in the 1940s. In 1977,

experienced a

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. The government, viewing marrabenta as a way for people to express their dissent, shut down many music venues at the time. While Marrabenta's popularity began to decline during the

Mozambican Civil War The Mozambican Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Moçambicana) was a civil war fought in Mozambique from 1977 to 1992. Like many regional African conflicts during the late twentieth century, the Mozambican Civil War possessed local dynamics but was a ...

, it never disappeared. Fleeing the war to seek a better life and economic opportunities, many Mozambicans, including several Marrabenta musicians, migrated to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. This introduced South African musical styles such as

Kwela Kwela is a 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. The music h ...

and Xangana to the Marrabenta style, adding rhythmic variety to the genre. Upon gaining

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

from Portuguese colonial rule, Mozambique came under the control of a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

regime, resulting in new musical influences from communist

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. When Mozambique ceased to be a socialist country in the 1980s, Western musical influences flooded the country. These included

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

and pop mainly from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. During this time, Marrabenta underwent significant transformation as musicians started using

distortion In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signal ...

and

electronic instruments An electronic musical instrument or electrophone is a musical instrument that produces sound using electronics, electronic circuitry. Such an instrument sounds by outputting an electrical, electronic or digital audio signal that ultimately is pl ...

, while retaining the fundamental character of the music.

Style

The Marrabenta style is a blend of traditional Mozambican rhythms and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

with influences from Western popular music that were brought over by radio. Early Marrabenta artists, such as

Fany Pfumo Fany Pfumo (also spelled Fany Mpfumo) (Lourenço Marques, October 18, 1928 – Maputo, November 3, 1987) was a Mozambican-born singer who was mainly active in South Africa. He is considered one of the founders and of the prominent artists in the ma ...

, Dilon Djindji, and

Wazimbo Humberto Carlos Benfica, known as Wazimbo (born November 11, 1948), is a Mozambican vocalist considered one of the greatest voices of Mozambique and one of the most famous marrabenta singers. Born in Chibuto, in Gaza Province, Mozambique he moved ...

, were crucial in establishing the genre, which has evolved over time into its modern form. This evolution can be seen in Marrabenta bands such as

Eyuphuro Eyuphuro is a Mozambican band. Eyuphuro's music is a combination of traditional African music and western popular music. Eyuphuro's music is sung mostly in Makua, a Bantu language. The name of the band means "whirlwind" in Macua. History Omar ...

and Orchestra Marrabenta Star de Moçambique. In its contemporary form, it has combined with other pop genres. The Mozambican band

Mabulu Mabulu is a band from Mozambique. Their name means "looking for a dialogue" in the Shangana language - a reference to the fact that the group comprises members from different generations. Formed in 2000, their debut release was "Karimbo" but ...

mixes marrabenta and hip hop music. The genre is celebrated annually in the Marrabenta Festival in

Contemporary form

Today, Marrabenta reflects global influences, including

rhythm & blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

, and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

. This has led to the emergence of a number of subgenres within Marrabenta, including pandza, which is a mix of reggae and Marrabenta and is currently very popular among the Mozambican youth. Marrabenta has also spread to other parts of Africa and the world.

References

{{Lusophonemusic Mozambican music