Mbaqanga is a style of South African music with rural Zulu roots that continues to influence musicians worldwide today. The style originated in the early 1960s.
Historically, laws such as the Land Act of 1913 to the Group Areas Act (1950) initially prevented people from integrating from different tribal communities, consequently making it almost impossible for most music artists to gain recognition beyond their tribal boundaries. The music genre ...
More
Mbaqanga is a style of South African music with rural Zulu roots that continues to influence musicians worldwide today. The style originated in the early 1960s.
Historically, laws such as the Land Act of 1913 to the Group Areas Act (1950) initially prevented people from integrating from different tribal communities, consequently making it almost impossible for most music artists to gain recognition beyond their tribal boundaries. The music genre mbaganga developed during this time (1960s) and to this day most of the major record labels are white owned companies with very few black artists that have contributed to their own material.
In Zulu, the term mbaqanga means an everyday cornmeal porridge, which is worth noting, considering the history of the music's popularity. Mbaqanga aficionados were mostly plebeian, metropolitan African jazz enthusiasts. Many of them were not permitted to establish themselves in the city, but they were unable to sustain themselves in the rural country....
Less
