Afrym
Music & Dance

Kwaito: The Sound of South Africa's Freedom Generation

Slowed-down house beats, chanted township slang and an attitude all its own. Kwaito was the soundtrack of young Black South Africans in the first years after apartheid.

By Amos Hope Jnr · · 3 min read

Picture a township street in Soweto in the mid-1990s. A minibus taxi rolls past with its speakers rattling. From a tavern comes a deep, heavy beat, slower than American house music, with a bassline that you feel in your chest. Over it, a voice does not so much sing as chant, in a mix of isiZulu, Sesotho, English and street slang. Young people on the corner move in slow, cool dance steps. Apartheid has just ended, and this is the new sound of the townships: kwaito.

What is kwaito?

Kwaito is a style of South African popular music that emerged in the early 1990s, mainly in the townships around Johannesburg. Its main features include:

  • Slowed-down house beats. Producers took the electronic house music popular in South African clubs and slowed it down, often to around 100 to 110 beats per minute.
  • Heavy basslines and simple, repetitive loops, often with synthesisers and samples.
  • Chanted or spoken vocals, rather than elaborate singing, often with catchy, shouted hooks.
  • Township languages, especially isiCamtho (Tsotsitaal), the slang of the streets, mixing Zulu, Sotho, Afrikaans and English.
  • Dance, with distinctive steps and styles that spread with each hit.

Where does the name come from?

The word kwaito is usually traced to the Afrikaans word kwaai, which can mean "angry" or "strict", but in township slang came to mean something like "cool" or "hot". Some also connect it to the Amakwaitos, a group of gangsters in Sophiatown in the 1950s. As with many slang words, its exact history is hard to pin down.

Born in the transition

Kwaito arose at a remarkable moment. In 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from prison; in 1994, South Africa held its first democratic election, which we marked in our story on Freedom Day. After decades of oppression, young Black South Africans had new freedoms and new hopes. Music that had once been dominated by protest songs now turned to celebration, partying, style, love and everyday life in the townships.

Some critics complained that kwaito was not political enough. Others, like the scholar Gavin Steingo, have argued that kwaito expressed freedom in its own way: through pleasure, through the right to enjoy oneself, and through a new sense of possibility.

The pioneers

Among the artists who shaped kwaito were:

  • Arthur Mafokate, often called the "King of Kwaito", whose 1995 hit "Kaffir", which turned a racist insult back against those who used it, was one of the genre's early landmarks. He also founded the label 999 Music.
  • Boom Shaka, a group featuring Lebo Mathosa, whose energetic performances and bold style made them stars.
  • Trompies, M'du Masilela, Mafikizolo in their early years, and many more.
  • TKZee, whose 1998 hit "Shibobo", recorded with footballer Benni McCarthy, became an anthem around South Africa's World Cup campaign.
  • Mandoza, whose 2000 song "Nkalakatha" crossed over to audiences of all races and remains one of the most famous kwaito songs.
  • Zola, a performer, poet and television presenter, whose music spoke about township life and struggle.

Labels such as Kalawa Jazmee, Ghetto Ruff and 999 Music helped build a thriving local industry.

Style and attitude

Kwaito was not only music. It was a lifestyle: baggy clothes, sportswear, bucket hats, All Star sneakers, and particular ways of dancing and speaking. Kwaito stars appeared on television, in advertisements and in magazines. The music played at taxi ranks, taverns, weddings and street parties.

Kwaito's children

By the 2000s, kwaito's dominance began to fade as South African house, hip hop and other styles became more popular. But its influence has lasted. Many South African genres since then owe something to kwaito's slowed beats, township slang and party spirit, including gqom from Durban and amapiano, the jazzy, log-drum-driven house sound we explored in our story on amapiano. Some describe amapiano as kwaito's grandchild.

Why it matters

Kwaito was the voice of a generation that grew up as apartheid ended. It showed that freedom could be celebrated not only in speeches and elections, but on the dance floor, in fashion and in the language of the streets. And it built a homegrown music industry that set the stage for South Africa's later dance music revolutions.

Further reading

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