The countdown gets closer.

COUNTDOWN WEBSITE

All to their own.

When it comes to Hardcore, the songwriting has more emphasis on rhythm rather than melody. Which is a reason why Ndonsa thinks Light Hour  could work. Trying to combine melodies of Kwaito and melodies of Hardcore would just sound chaotic. Vocalists in the hardcore genre usually scream, chant, and use spoken word; another reason why these two genres could work together harmoniously. The majority of the time, Kwaito has spoken-word lyrical styles. An example Ndonsa gave me is a band called Me Without You. He says the artist's style is similar to what Light Hour  would like to pull off. Storytelling, through use of metaphors, rather than pitch perfect melodies and harmonies will be reminiscent of Light Hour. They'll still have vocals and melodies, but it won't be the main focus. In order for these two genres to work, they need to have a compromise.

Return to that One-ness

Ndonsa was in a hardcore band for over 2 years. It's funny that somebody with such a traditional Zulu background has an interest in the hardcore scene. I've gathered much from what Ndonsa has told me about the genre itself, but there is something deeper with this genre that drives him forward and always makes him "discover things about himself when performing hardcore that he never knew before." Ndonsa tells me other people see it as loud, abrasive music, but to him it's a channel through which he can transport his alter ego and "feel the one-ness we all felt when we were still children." From a young age Ndonsa would play on his teacher's piano at school whenever he got the chance. He never had the money to buy his own, so he would beg his teacher to let him stay in after school. Ndonsa taught himself how to play and he says he was happiest when his teacher would leave him in this classroom after everybody was let out for recess. He was at peace knowing that he could play whatever he wanted and experiment in whatever way he chose because there was nobody around to criticize him like his parents would. His parents never wanted him to become a musician. They said to him, "Art is a hobby. It isn't a breadwinner. Wake up and make good money. You're not going to make money playing your silly piano." That cut Ndonsa, but he knew what made him feel closer to the rhythms of life: playing keys to sick drum beats.

Genre and style

The fashion industry has boomed all over the country of SA with urban apparel designers as a result of this Kwaito craze. Designers such as Stoned Cherrie, Loxion Kulca, and Sun Goddess to name a few.

http://lesaniblog.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/stoned-cherrie2.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrKTm9VMzOEHcv78oGfVKSFa5BE7fBQjboDNnx8IwSr-jgeULJBXW_F6kJ40BACB5BjLMHzUxfY9ZT8L_lRDebDUZK4gWigfNuBa0QoDGY3XThaOAIVc8Ga4lYD6sSkS8gTiK7ab9lyO8/s1600/_MG_0922.jpg

http://www.represent.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/sun-goddess-compressed.jpg

Sound evolution

The unmistakable Kwaito sound originally came from using European instruments that Black African laborers had at their disposal after gold was found in the city of Johannesburg. A common characteristic of the Kwaito sound is the dialogue between a man and a woman with the woman mostly repeating the man's lines. It's usually distinguished as dance music with light subject matter and not really sung. It's more of a rhythmic speech. Kwaito usually engages with its audience by encouraging them to interact through a call-and-response manner. The artist really tries to engage its listeners.

So, what's the point? 

Well, ironically, not only does Kwaito resist a sense of Western-based oppression by remaining apolitical, but it also resists trends and constant presence of western influence in and of itself via its mode of production. Mhlambi  affirms it has remained the music of the SA youth after the struggle who wish to pursue rest and relaxation as opposed to dwelling in the past. The term "Kwaito" is also a very clear sign that oppression isn't something to be, or that will ever be forgotten. The danceability and poetry inherent to Kwaito, however, does show a reversion to better times-to cultural integrity.

Through Kwaito music, artists and youths collaborate to create, through music and dance, a realm where the struggle no longer exists.

A Kwaito artist escape

Kwaito can be seen as a means of recreation and also a sense of escapism being a genre that looks to the future instead of to the past. It represents the refusal of politics. Some Kwaito songs also reflect the artist's political view. An example is Zola. He rhymes, chants and sings explicitly about political and ideological issues.

This song "Mdlwembe" was featured in the Academy Award Winning film "Tsotsi".

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgy_mIJUx8PCeQU0v9-3XioiJZemFWj60rY7jRr6dXJdEo3VtuRR5AU9t-oG-ZbVhXqEPKvR322TUhSVtYI3h5YJA8Ualqqh6edv8NDk2UqOCboX6sqpcYl7aqR-UbzqWco2CMAEdx3pQ/s400/tsotsi.jpg

Tic-tac among all the bad breath

It was only until 2001 that SA artists and music found their way to Europe and the US. This electric, new found freedom gave SA musicians easier access to international works and a greater ability to freely express themselves too. As a result of this, Kwaito has been known as the express of this delicious new freedom and many anti-apartheid chants have been used as lyrics for Kwaito songs. Kwaito is called "the music that defines the generation who came of age after Apartheid."

Another thing Ndonsa told me, is that schools in townships were unable to fund programs like music classes to enhance the learning experiences of the students. Kwaito, didn't require a formal knowledge of music theory or large spaces to rehearse. Kwaito was engaging, exciting, and most imprtantly easily accessible to people in these downtrodden communities. It gave them a sense of community where there were none, too.

Boiled water

Kwaito's first single became a hit in South Africa. Let's abbreviate South Africa for SA, shall we now children? It's just easier.

"Kaffir" by Arthur Mafokate was the first hit. As all of you know, this was the most insulting and derogatory term an African person could be called during the Apartheid regime. This song illustrated freedom of expression resulting from the political liberation in South Africa.

The arrival of house music in Cape Town in the early 1990s spread to Johannesburg which made it really popular in clubs like 4th World. Local artists fused its sound with that of SA music.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBB7C1E3F14C3FAD6

We all love being privy to a back story.

It's a Saturday night and we're all chilling together in Senzo's lounge. Smoking, drinking, and talking. They say I'm being anti-social because I'm on my laptop instead of hanging with them. They know what I'm doing, and that I'm supposed to be doing it to help the band, but they still try to pry me away and give me a double southern comfort and lime on the rocks. How could I say no to that?!

I'd like to tell you more about Kwaito's background. I didn't know much about it myself until I actually started engaging with it for Light Hour. Kwaito led a post-apartheid township subculture into the mainstream. Funny enough, Afrikaans, being "the language of the oppressor", was often drawn into Isicamtho vocab, reshaped and used in a related or new context. Isicamtho was and still is, the language spoken by the people of Soweto at the time. When House music started getting popular, people from the ghetto called it Kwaito after the Akrikaans word "Kwaai," to be angry. In this context they saw it as tracks that were hot, that "they were kicking." The most popular and well-known Kwaito artist Arthur Mafokate describes the relationship between Kwaito and gangsterism as music revolving around ghetto life.

In a time when South Africa was transforming, Kwaito took shape in townships in Soweto at the same time when Nelson Mandela took office as the first democratically elected president of South Africa.

The subsequent removal of political and economic sanctions greatly transformed the South African music industry forever. 

Some Kwaito in your Face-oh

Know what you're chewing on.

From the audience stats I've been looking at, most of our readers aren't from South Africa. Americans, Russians, and Germans. Some of you are even from wonderful exotic places like Malaysia and Indonesia. That's fantastic! We want to reach as many people as possible. It's an awesome thing to have people from all over the world hopping on board your journey with you. For those of you who don't know about Kwaito, this post is solely dedicated with much loves and cares, to you. 

So, what is Kwaito? It's a music genre which came about in Johannesburg during the 1990s. You can think of it as a form of house music, but with that African flare and personality you can't find anywhere else in the world...duh! It has a slower tempo than the usual house and it usually has extremely catchy melodies and percussive loop samples. Oh! And you can't forget the deep bass lines and quirky vocals. In a way, you can say it's similar to Hip-hop but the distinctive feature about Kwaito is the way the lyrics are sung. They're either rapped, shouted, or sung conventionally.  In a typical Kwaito song you'll hear synthesizer, sampler, percussion, vocals, and a drum machine. The interesting thing about Kwaito, is that the word originates from the Afrikaans "Kwaai", meaning angry. 

Quarks that should "matter"

Kwaito and Hardcore. You're probably thinking to yourself, "Why the hell would you want to combine these two? Are you bored with your life?" And the answer to that is quite simply, yes. Fuck the system! We want to delve into something we ourselves were a little hesitant and nervous about doing, but then thought to ourselves, as cliche' as this sounds, that our lives are short. Compared to the infinite numbers of galaxies out there, we don't really even exist. We are dust particles in a giant vacuum cleaner. Not even! We're atoms. No...even smaller than that! We're QUARKS! Quarks are elementary particles that build up matter. They are powerful strings because of their mass and precision. 

http://my-retrospace.blogspot.com/2009/06/foxy-ladies-1-cyb-and-patricia.html

We are one mind.

Every mind is a subjective context which measures reality according to the sensory perceptions it has. Every mind is but an individualistic expression of The One Mind. We seem to be separate and individual only to the extent that we are identified with the sensory base descriptions of our personal lives. It is within each and every one of us to actualize a quality of perception that extends far beyond the boundaries of our isolated self-hood. Ultimately, we should see with a vision that liberates us from the appearance of form and it's limitations. It is the very Life Breath.