...Or, perhaps, how taxis brought South Africans to House.
The phenomenon of House Music in Southern Africa can no longer be considered underground - at least after CNN covered it. In a story today, CNN gives the "House in South Africa" narrative a twist by relating how taxi drivers led to the House sound of South Africa to popularity:
For discerning clubbers around the world the hottest sound in dance music right now is coming not from New York or London, but from the townships of Pretoria, South Africa...
But its improbable journey to glitzy superclubs around the world may never have happened without the help of South Africa's taxi drivers.
South Africa has long been a voracious consumer of imported European House music, but over the last few years a small group of producers in Pretoria have begun experimenting with their own sound, more representative of the music of the townships they live in...
DJ Qness writes for South African dance music magazine BPM and works for Mujava's record label, Sheer Music. "In South Africa, the easiest way to the people is through the taxis," he told CNN.
South African taxis are actually small mini buses and are by far the most popular mode of public transport in a country where car ownership is limited. A Pretoria University study estimates that between five and 10 million South Africans use taxis every day.
The Township House pioneers began to give CDs of their tracks to taxi drivers. The drivers played the CDs to a captive audience of commuters and the response was incredible.
Passengers wanted to know where they could buy the tracks they were hearing, and with no record stores stocking the music, taxi drivers began selling CDs directly from taxi ranks and roadside stalls.
Qness said that even without radio play the township sound began outselling imported dance music and the record labels began to take notice. "These people created a demand," he said. "Then Mujava's 'Township Funk' blew up on the streets and everything went crazy."
When Keith Richards first visited Chicago's legendary Chess Records in the early 1960s, he was greeted by a shocking sight. The Blues, which was the rage among British youth, was all but forgotten in the United States, and Muddy Waters was making ends meet by doing odd jobs around the Chess studios. "There was the King of the Blues, and he was painting the ceiling."
Europe has gone through an infatuation with Chicago House as well as Chicago Blues, but you never know where the seeds thrown about will land or what kind of creation will sprout. Case in point: South Africa. House Music is undergoing a renaissance in a place all but forgotten by American artists and audiences. It doesn't sound exactly like something that fell off the Cajual or Strictly Rhythm delivery truck - just like no one would confuse a Rolling Stones record with Muddy Waters - but this is natural as South African producers and DJs have added their own cultural influences and vibes. And some of this is, in the words of Dr. Bob Jones, so soulful it hurts...
The music press in Europe and the United States has been slow to acknowledge South Africa's new generation of House artists, though a few (such as Black Coffee) are starting to break through. The local press however is full of interesting stories (ironically enough, many emerging South African producers and DJs began working in House Music after starting out in Hip-Hop and R&B, which is a reversal of how it's evolved in the United States). A story posted today in The South African, an expatriate paper for South Africans living abroad, features a short profile of DJ Qness:
Born in Zimbabwe as Qhubani Ndlovu, he started his career as an RnB singer before experimenting with Rap and now finally a House DJ and producer. "It happened when I listened to Oskido Church Groove, the very first one, that's when I just went crazy and started experimenting with dance music. "It's amazing, the response is big and the track is big. It played on Yfm before and now on Oskido's show."
The song features Oluhle, born as Sukoluhle Ncube, who is based in the UK. "I listened to one of her tracks on 'MySpace'... the voice just did it man...she sounded like Brenda Fassie to me. Oluhle's voice is just electrifying."
Like many established DJ's Dennis Ferrer has toured South Africa for quite some time now so when DJ Qness heard his reaction about South African house music he was more than pleased. "Dennis Ferrer was so amazed, he said; he is actually bigger in South Africa than his home town. They acknowledge that house [music] is so big in South Africa."
Check out DJ Qness' hot new track "Uzongilinda" featuring vocalist Malehloka at his myspace page here.
When Keith Richards first visited Chicago's legendary Chess Records in the early 1960s, he was greeted by a shocking sight. The Blues, which was the rage among British youth, was all but forgotten in the United States, and Muddy Waters was making ends meet by doing odd jobs around the Chess studios. "There was the King of the Blues, and he was painting the ceiling."
