Mbaqanga () is a style of South African music with rural Zulu 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 Act Group Areas Act was the title of three acts of the Parliament of South Africa enacted under the apartheid government of South Africa. The acts assigned racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas in a system o ...

(1950) initially prevented black South Africans from integrating from different tribal communities, consequently making it almost impossible for most black native music artists to gain recognition beyond their tribal boundaries. The music genre mbaqanga 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. ''Mbaqanga'' aficionados were mostly plebeian, metropolitan African

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

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."Coplan, David B. "Sounds of the 'Third Way:' Identity and the African Renaissance in Contemporary South African Popular Traditional Music" ''Black Music Research Journal.'' Vol. 21, No. 1 (Spring 2001). pp. 107–124. 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 A shebeen ( ga, síbín) 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 Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, the ...

s during the 1960s. Its use of western instruments allowed mbaqanga to develop into a

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 coun ...

n version of

. 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 is a style of 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 Wi ...

and kwela. A

n 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 Sophiatown , also known as Sof'town or Kofifi, is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. Sophiatown was a black cultural hub that was destroyed under apartheid, It produced some of South Africa's most famous writers, musicians, politicians a ...

. The genre gained popularity as a result of radio play by stations under the

South African Broadcasting Corporation The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations ( AM/ FM) as well as six television broadcasts to the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's state ...

. Early artists included Miriam Makeba, Dolly Rathebe and

Letta Mbulu Letta Mbulu (born 23 August 1942) is a South African jazz singer who has been active since the 1960s. Biography Born and raised in Soweto, South Africa, she has been active as a singer since the 1960s. While still a teenager she toured with th ...

. 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.

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

, near

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

, 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 () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a ...

, 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

and kwela influences. The cyclic structure of

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

(who had all begun as marabi stars during the '50s) created a large base of fans, as did the Dark City Sisters and the

Soul Brothers ''Soul Brothers'' is the third album recorded by Ray Charles and the eleventh album by Milt Jackson and released by Atlantic Records in 1958. The album was later re-issued in a two-CD compilation together with the other Charles–Jackson album '' ...

. 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.

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 labour migrants no longer wanted to be in the spotlight. Additionally, audiences sought more urbanised 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 '' Graceland'' 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 (featuring "white Zulu"

Johnny Clegg Jonathan Paul Clegg, (7 June 195316 July 2019) was a South African musician, singer-songwriter, dancer, anthropologist and anti-apartheid activist, some of whose work was in musicology focused on the music of indigenous South African people ...

) signalled its return. White South African musicians influenced by this style include singer songwriter Robin Auldbr>
Veteran Afrikaans piano accordion player

Nico Carstens Nicolaas Cornelius Carstens (10 February 1926 – 1 November 2016) more commonly known as Nico Carstens, was a South African musician, accordionist, and songwriter. Early life Born, 10 February 1926, in Cape Town of Afrikaner parents, 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 Twal

Yvonne Chaka Chaka Yvonne Chaka Chaka (born Yvonne Machaka on 18 March 1965) is a South African singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur, humanitarian and teacher. Dubbed the "Princess of Africa" (a name she received after a 1990 tour), Chaka Chaka has been at t ...

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''.

References

{{Genres of African popular music South African styles of music Zulu music Xhosa culture Lesotho culture