Historicizing Kwaito
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21504/amj.v8i2.1782Abstract
In the standard narrative, kwaito is described as a form of electronic dance music that emerged alongside the democratization of South Africa between Nelson Mandela's release from prison (1990) and the democratic elections of 1994. In most cases, scholars have claimed that kwaito emerged as a direct response to the end of apartheid and the birth of the South African "rainbow nation”. While there is certainly some truth in such a claim, the present essay is an attempt to complicate this rather simplistic and monolithic historical narrative.References
Allen, Lara 2001 "Bubblegum", Grove Music Online. Edited by L. Macy, , accessed 22 February 2008
2004 "Kwaito versus Crossed-Over: Music and Identity during South Africa's Rainbow Years, 1994-1996", Social Dynamics, 30(2):82-111
Ballantine, Christopher 1993 Marabi Nights Early South African Jazz and Vaudeville, Johannesburg: Raven Press
Bender, Wolfgang 1991 Sweet Mother: Modern African Music, Trans. Wolfgang Freis, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Boloka, Gibson 2003 "Cultural Studies and the Transformation of the Music Industry: Some Reflections on Kwaito", in Herman Wasserman and Sean Jacobs (eds) Shifting Selves: Post-Apartheid Essays on Mass Media, Culture and Identity, pp. 97-108. Cape Town: Kwela Books
Bond, Patrick 2004 Elite Transition: From Apartheid to Neoliberalism in South Africa, 2nd ed., London: Pluto Press and Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press
Bhaba, Homi and John Comaroff 2002 "Speaking of Postcoloniality, in the Continuous Present: A Conversation", in David Theo Goldberg and Ato Quayson (eds) Relocating Postcolonialism, pp. 15-46. Oxford: Blackwell.
Cafarelli, Carl 2001 "An Informal History of Bubblegum Music", in Cooper, Kim and David Smay (eds) Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth, pp. 13-22. Los Angeles: Feral House
Coplan, David 2005 "God Rock Africa: Thoughts on Politics in Popular Black Performance in South Africa", African Studies 64(1):9-27
2008 In Township Tonight! South Africa's Black City Music and Theatre, 2nd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Das, Antara 2008 "Being Left-Wing in South Africa" [Interview with Jeremy Cronin] in The Hindu, 6 January. , accessed 22 February 2008
Erlmann, Veit 1991 African Stars: Studies in Black South African Performance, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
1999 Music, Modernity, and the Global Imagination: South Africa and the West, New York: Oxford University Press
Fukuyama, Francis 1992 The End of History and the Last Man, New York: Free Press
2002 Our Posthuman Future, New York: Farrar Straus and Giroux
Impey, Angela 2001 "Resurrecting the Flesh: Reflections on Women in Kwaito", Agenda 49:44-50
Jameson, Fredric 1991 Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, Duke: Duke University Press
Marais, Hein 2001 South Africa: Limits to Change: The Political Economy of Transition, 2nd ed., London and New York: Zed Books and Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press
Maus, Fred E. 2001 "Glamour and Evasion: The Fabulous Ambivalence of the Pet Shop Boys", Popular Music 20(3):379-393
Meintjes, Louise 1990 "Paul Simon's Graceland, South Africa, and the Mediation of Musical Meaning", Ethnomusicology 36(1):37-73
2003 Sound of Africa! Making Music Zulu in a South African Studio, Durham: Duke University Press
Mhlongo, Niq 2004 Dog Eat Dog, Cape Town: Kwela
Mokwena, Steve 1992 "Living on the Wrong Side of the Law: Marginalisation, Youth and Violence", in David Everatt and Elinor Sisulu (eds) Black Youth in Crisis: Facing the Future, pp. 30-51. Braamfontein: Ravan Press
Muller, Carol 2006 "The New African Diaspora, the Built Environment and the Past in Jazz", Ethnomusicology Forum, 15(1):63-86
2008 South African Music: A Century of Traditions in Transformation, 2nd ed., New York: Routledge
Neate, Patrick 2004 Where You're At: Notes from the Frontline of a Hip-Hop Planet, New York: Riverhead Books
Nixon, Rob 1994 Homelands, Harlem, and Hollywood: South African Culture and World Beyond, New York: Routledge
Peterson, Bhekizizwe 2004 "Kwaito, 'Dawgs,' and the Antimonies of Hustling", African Identities 1(2):197-213
Satyo, Siziwe 2001 "Kwaito-Speak: A Language Variety Created by the Youth for the Youth", in Elaine Ridge, Sinfree Makoni and Stanley G.M. Ridge (eds) Freedom and Discipline: Essays in Applied Linguistics from Southern Africa, pp. 139- 48. New Dehli: Bahri Publications
Steingo, Gavin 2005 "South African Music After Apartheid: Kwaito, the 'Party Politic', and the Appropriation of Gold as a Sign of Success", Popular Music and Society 28(3):333-357
2007 "The Politicization of Kwaito: From the Party Politic, to Party Politics", Black Music Research Journal, 27(1):23-44
Stephens, Simon 2000 "Kwaito", in Sarah Nuttall and Cheryl-Ann Michael (eds) Senses of Culture: South African Cultural Studies, pp. 256-273. Cape Town: Oxford University Press
Taylor, Tim 1997 Global Pop: World Music, World Markets, New York: Routledge Van der Vliet, Virginia
2001 "AIDS: Losing 'The New Struggle'?", Daedalus 130(1):151-184
Viljoen, Martina Forthcoming "On the Margins of Kwaito", in Worlds of Music (a special issue on kwaito, guest edited by Gavin Steingo)
2004 "Kwaito versus Crossed-Over: Music and Identity during South Africa's Rainbow Years, 1994-1996", Social Dynamics, 30(2):82-111
Ballantine, Christopher 1993 Marabi Nights Early South African Jazz and Vaudeville, Johannesburg: Raven Press
Bender, Wolfgang 1991 Sweet Mother: Modern African Music, Trans. Wolfgang Freis, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Boloka, Gibson 2003 "Cultural Studies and the Transformation of the Music Industry: Some Reflections on Kwaito", in Herman Wasserman and Sean Jacobs (eds) Shifting Selves: Post-Apartheid Essays on Mass Media, Culture and Identity, pp. 97-108. Cape Town: Kwela Books
Bond, Patrick 2004 Elite Transition: From Apartheid to Neoliberalism in South Africa, 2nd ed., London: Pluto Press and Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press
Bhaba, Homi and John Comaroff 2002 "Speaking of Postcoloniality, in the Continuous Present: A Conversation", in David Theo Goldberg and Ato Quayson (eds) Relocating Postcolonialism, pp. 15-46. Oxford: Blackwell.
Cafarelli, Carl 2001 "An Informal History of Bubblegum Music", in Cooper, Kim and David Smay (eds) Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth, pp. 13-22. Los Angeles: Feral House
Coplan, David 2005 "God Rock Africa: Thoughts on Politics in Popular Black Performance in South Africa", African Studies 64(1):9-27
2008 In Township Tonight! South Africa's Black City Music and Theatre, 2nd ed., Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Das, Antara 2008 "Being Left-Wing in South Africa" [Interview with Jeremy Cronin] in The Hindu, 6 January. , accessed 22 February 2008
Erlmann, Veit 1991 African Stars: Studies in Black South African Performance, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
1999 Music, Modernity, and the Global Imagination: South Africa and the West, New York: Oxford University Press
Fukuyama, Francis 1992 The End of History and the Last Man, New York: Free Press
2002 Our Posthuman Future, New York: Farrar Straus and Giroux
Impey, Angela 2001 "Resurrecting the Flesh: Reflections on Women in Kwaito", Agenda 49:44-50
Jameson, Fredric 1991 Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, Duke: Duke University Press
Marais, Hein 2001 South Africa: Limits to Change: The Political Economy of Transition, 2nd ed., London and New York: Zed Books and Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press
Maus, Fred E. 2001 "Glamour and Evasion: The Fabulous Ambivalence of the Pet Shop Boys", Popular Music 20(3):379-393
Meintjes, Louise 1990 "Paul Simon's Graceland, South Africa, and the Mediation of Musical Meaning", Ethnomusicology 36(1):37-73
2003 Sound of Africa! Making Music Zulu in a South African Studio, Durham: Duke University Press
Mhlongo, Niq 2004 Dog Eat Dog, Cape Town: Kwela
Mokwena, Steve 1992 "Living on the Wrong Side of the Law: Marginalisation, Youth and Violence", in David Everatt and Elinor Sisulu (eds) Black Youth in Crisis: Facing the Future, pp. 30-51. Braamfontein: Ravan Press
Muller, Carol 2006 "The New African Diaspora, the Built Environment and the Past in Jazz", Ethnomusicology Forum, 15(1):63-86
2008 South African Music: A Century of Traditions in Transformation, 2nd ed., New York: Routledge
Neate, Patrick 2004 Where You're At: Notes from the Frontline of a Hip-Hop Planet, New York: Riverhead Books
Nixon, Rob 1994 Homelands, Harlem, and Hollywood: South African Culture and World Beyond, New York: Routledge
Peterson, Bhekizizwe 2004 "Kwaito, 'Dawgs,' and the Antimonies of Hustling", African Identities 1(2):197-213
Satyo, Siziwe 2001 "Kwaito-Speak: A Language Variety Created by the Youth for the Youth", in Elaine Ridge, Sinfree Makoni and Stanley G.M. Ridge (eds) Freedom and Discipline: Essays in Applied Linguistics from Southern Africa, pp. 139- 48. New Dehli: Bahri Publications
Steingo, Gavin 2005 "South African Music After Apartheid: Kwaito, the 'Party Politic', and the Appropriation of Gold as a Sign of Success", Popular Music and Society 28(3):333-357
2007 "The Politicization of Kwaito: From the Party Politic, to Party Politics", Black Music Research Journal, 27(1):23-44
Stephens, Simon 2000 "Kwaito", in Sarah Nuttall and Cheryl-Ann Michael (eds) Senses of Culture: South African Cultural Studies, pp. 256-273. Cape Town: Oxford University Press
Taylor, Tim 1997 Global Pop: World Music, World Markets, New York: Routledge Van der Vliet, Virginia
2001 "AIDS: Losing 'The New Struggle'?", Daedalus 130(1):151-184
Viljoen, Martina Forthcoming "On the Margins of Kwaito", in Worlds of Music (a special issue on kwaito, guest edited by Gavin Steingo)
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Published
2008-11-30
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How to Cite
“Historicizing Kwaito”. 2008. African Music : Journal of the International Library of African Music 8 (2): 76-91. https://doi.org/10.21504/amj.v8i2.1782.
