All About Kwaito
By Lebohang Mpede , 29 Jan 2008Kwaito is a South African style of music , a brew of House music or garage music blended with many other genres to give a unique African rhythm.
Some say kwaito is “…a mixture of all that 1990’s South African youth grew up on: South African disco music, hip hop, R&B, Ragga, and a heavy, heavy dose of American and British house music.”
Now this is where things get interesting because kwaito mixes so many genres it leaves one wondering if it can be defined. Can one say kwaito is really what you want it to be as long as it is South African? Is there a difference between kwaito and Mzansi House? Is Mzansi House kwaito or a genre on it’s on? Then there is Afro Pop, Afro Soul and other similar genres which raise the same questions and many others.
This is what the people who make kwaito and its many variations say:
“…People thought kwaito was just a beat, it’s not, it’s a lifestyle and a mindset.”
– Arthur Mafokate
“It came from house, but we needed to put an African feel into it, so we added our own melodies, congas and baselines,”
-Oskido
“I’d describe kwaito as being South African dance music, more mid, tempo grooves from 100 to 120 beats per minute, there’s a fusion of African sounds and house music and lyrics in SA languages and style. Kwaito is a mix of so many grooves but it’s just got its own groove.”
– Oskido
“Afro pop has evolved from kwaito. It’s still evolving. There are a lot of kids out there who are influenced by kwaito.”
– Oskido
“Kwaito is dying but not while I’m still alive.”
– DJ Cleo
“Afro pop is kwaito because it has that whole ethnic thing going on, but listen it’s still got that kwaito doof doof beat”
– DJ Cleo
“We’re definitely part of the kwaito movement, I mean we were there in the inception and creation of kwaito with Oscar and Mandla and them. …to define something is to assume it will never change and that it will stay the same. I mean all music has variations, even hip hop has different sounds within it so why shouldn’t kwaito? The only way I’d want to label kwaito is to call it young, urban music made by young people in South Africa.”
- Thandiswa Mazwai
“…so as long as there’s young people here making music, there’s going to be kwaito, of course the music will change, I mean kwaito is just a name at the end of the day.”
– D Rex
“…it has also breathed life into other genres - look at the current success of Afro pop. It’s a blessing but it’s backfired on kwaito because Afro pop is becoming bigger…”
– Zola
“I can fuse kwaito with anything, even gospel. I’ve got this thing for kwaito.”
– Spikiri
“Kwaito is not dying. People just fail to see it’s progression in the music environment, which is different to what it was 10 years ago”
– Eugene Mthethwa (Trompies)
“Kwaito is just a matter of sound. They’ve given it a name and music within any genre changes. At the moment kwaito is in a transition…. However, I don’t believe you can pin-point when it became a defining sound. But it did mould itself around what was happening when it was birthed.”
– Kabelo
“Oskido and I never called it kwaito back then. Kwaito is not dead, it has evolved. I don’t know who labeled the music kwaito. Under the dance banner it has evolved into Afro-pop, which involves more singing….”
– DJ Christos
So there you go that is how varied kwaito is.
