South Africa is one of sub-Saharan Africa's most well-developed countries: a cultural and economic powerhouse that, for better or worse, often overshadows its neighbors. The capitol, Johannesburg, is one of Africa's biggest media hubs, with a sophisticated network of recording, broadcasting, publishing, advertising and Internet industries that helps project South African pop music and culture well beyond the nation's own borders.
But the history of South African popular music extends back to an era long before the wired, media-savvy present. The discovery of gold and diamonds near Johannesburg the late 19th century spurred a rabid urbanization that required lots of labor. While European and other immigrants fulfilled part of that need, indigenous Africans from all over Southern Africa would provide the majority of the workforce. As these different groups—Xhosa, Zulu, Venda, Tswana, Ndebele, etc.—left their ancestral lands to come together in South Africa's new urban centers they brought their music with them. The cities acted as crucibles where the old forms mingled and combined—sometimes with Western music, too—to form exciting new sounds that spoke specifically to the new urban realities.
By the early 20th century, South African cities could boast a handful of new styles, especially marabi, a rough-and-tumble dance-hall music from Jo'burg, the new Zulu a cappella style from the Durban called mbube and the beginnings of a homegrown jazz scene. Though the 1940s saw the imposition of the divisive apartheid system, it was also a boom time for South African pop, with the establishment of several important recording labels (including the still-influential Gallo) and a flowering of incredible jazz talent in the famous "mixed" areas such as Sophiatown.
Most South African jazz in this era was derived from the American big-band swing sound popular during World War II. But with the passage of the Group Areas act in 1950—which officially segregated formerly racially mixed neighborhoods—black musicians were forced into ghettos or "townships," where a new, harder style developed. The '50s brought forth a wealth of other township styles, too, including kwela, mbaqanga and further refinements in Zulu a cappella music.
The '60s, '70s and '80s were tumultuous decades, when the ANC and the Trade Unions led South Africa's black majority in its struggle against to the apartheid government. Though many of the country's top performers, including Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela chose exile rather than collaboration with the authorities, it was a relentlessly creative era and pop music took on a sense of urgency and purpose as it helped buoy many black South Africans through the struggle. The '80s also saw South African pop break big on the international scene, thanks mainly to Paul Simon's groundbreaking 1986 album Graceland, which featured a number of South African artists, most notably the Zulu choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
In 1994, South Africa held it's first "nonracial" election, and the ANC, led by Nelson Mandela, was voted into power —sweeping away the apartheid government once and for all. That event unleashed a storm of creative energy in South Africa, and new exuberant new sounds that had germinated in the '80s, such as bubblegum pop and kwaito, burst into full flower. Meanwhile, imported sounds such as rap, reggae and R&B continued to grow in popularity, inspiring local imitators and variants.
White South Africans have contributed to the pop landscape over the years, too, from protest singers such as Roger Lucy to defiant rule-breakers like Johnny Clegg. There's also a vibrant Afrikaans-language pop scene that's seldom noticed outside the country.
—Tom Pryor
