Music of South Africa

First we have Sho Madjozi, a 29 year old South African female rapper from Limpopo, South Africa. She is very skillful and is so inspiring to watch from. The reason I chose her out of many other good artists was because of her outlook and how she connects with her music. In a New York Time 2019 article she talks about her heritage and how she represents it through her music. She heavily used inspired clothes and hairstyles made from Tsonga culture in her music videos. She mainly raps in Xitsonga which is English and Tsonga mixed together, sometimes she raps in full Swahili. She also involves beats in her music called gqom, which is a shadowy strain of house that originated from Durban, South Africa. She also mentioned in the article the conservativeness of Tsonga culture, and how her music has opened ways and helped for younger generations struggling with that. I would recommend checking out her and this article, it's just very interesting, and goes into depth more about her and her culture. Here in one of her songs called "Kona '' she samples actual native Tsonga beats and sings in her native language. Throughout the video she represents her culture by wearing traditional items, and even mixes them together with modern clothes. Enjoy !  

 

Second we have an instrument called Ramkie Guitar, also known as the "blink kitaar" that was crafted in the 18th century by the Khoikhoi people. The actual design of the instrument came from the Malabar slaves. The original outline of the instrument was a gourd, and a large fruit with a hard skin. Nowadays it's made from other materials such as oil cans, and boxes. They either use fishing wire or bicycle wire for the strings, and usually use four-six strings depending on the size. The overall sound of the guitar sounds like a banjo, and is mostly used for chord-playing. They mainly use the instrument for memorabilia for tourists rather than traditional music. I just found it rather fascinating how they use reusable objects like an oil can and made an instrument out of it. The video is of a South African native playing it on the streets while singing. I'll also link another video in here because this one shows a modern day version of the Ramkie guitar, and talks a little bit more about the moderation of the guitar.

Lastly we have the Umhlanga Dance aka Reed Dance, It's one of the main traditions in Swaziland and one of the most colorful ones as well. It's where unmarried women pay respect to the King and Queen of Swaziland. Usually the women performing are bare-breasted, and they consist of dancing and singing. This event alone attracts over 80,000 people, then other villages come on stage to display their respect for the King and Queen of Swaziland. Sometimes the king's daughter participates in dance, and is recognized by the bright red feather attached in her hair. Usually at the end of the dance, and pays signs of respect the king picks a new wife from the line of dancers. I found this really interesting on how they pay and show signs of respect still, unlike in America we typically don't do that. We do hold shows and such but nothing compares to how they do it in Swaziland. Also another thing was that they were bare-breasted while dancing, and that they are confident while doing it. I also found a 10 minute video that shows 9 popular South Africa dances, I recommend checking that out as well. Since the video does show nudity I will link it here if you would like to watch!

Cited sources :

Ramkie Guitar. (n.d.). Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://southafrica.co.za/ramkie-guitar.html. 

Guardian News and Media. (2016, September 22). Swaziland's reed dance: Cultural celebration or sleazy royal ritual? | Sara Assarsson. The Guardian. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/sep/22/swaziland-reed-dance-cultural-celebration-or-sleazy-royal-ritual-umhlanga.