Simply for the love of Kwaito Music    

Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Johannesburg, South Africa, during the 1990s. It is a variant of house music featuring the use of African sounds and samples. Typically at a slower tempo range than other styles of house music, Kwaito often contains catchy melodic and percussive loop samples, deep bass lines, and vocals. Although bearing similarities to hip hop music, a distinctive feature of Kwaito is the manner in which the lyrics are sung, rapped and shouted. It is most popular among the black youth of South Africa.

Kwaito took shape in the township Soweto at the same time Nelson Mandela took office. One of the first Kwaito singles to become a hit in South Africa was the song "Kaffir" by artist Arthur Mafokate, which illustrated the freedom of expression resulting from political liberation in South Africa. Arthur Mafokate, Makhendlas (Arthur's brother), Oskido, Boom Shaka, and Mdu Masilela were the first artists to produce a huge kwaito hit and popularize it in and outside of the Black townships.

The kwaito industry is growing fast and it is becoming increasingly competitive. Popular artists include Zola, Mandoza, Mzekezeke, Brown Dash, Spikiri, Mzambiya, and the late African pop and kwaito star Brenda Fassie to mention a few. The kwaito stars in South Africa are seen as celebrities who influence the culture, language, and economy of the nation in ways that is entertaining the listeners while listening.

Kwaito is been criticized in that it is labeled as the African version of hip hop or an imitator. As it emerged it was meant for the black South African youth but it managed to secure its name in the South African music industry and International front. It is known for being sang in African languages and that shouldn’t change. People in other races can take this opportunity to learn African languages through kwaito music.  

 

Music videos play an important role in album sales



MTV logo by Justice Songs



Music videos represent a very important part of the music industry. There are even artists that owe their careers to their music videos. Music videos have become a venue where a musician is given a chance to impress the public not just with their singing but also with their looks or moves. There are people who become an instant fan because of the music videos they see on TV.

Music video aims to deliver the song or give meaning to the song. People can easily relate to the song once they see and know the intention of it. It can help listeners relate to the song and somehow feel that the song was written for them. But some people feel that music videos have disadvantages because now people focus on the looks and ignore the singing talent the singer has to offer. This goes to show that sex sells and they are making a huge profit by portraying it. Musicians become more appreciated if they have good looks and the sex appeal.

Looking on the brighter side though, music videos have already proven how essential it is to an artist success. Music videos are now considered as important as the song itself. There are artists and songs that have become so popular and well known because of their music videos. Mostly listeners get to know the artist through the use of videos and this help boost the album sales of the artist. The creation of DVDs and video tapes has also helped the artist generate more income because their live performances are been recorded and sold as well.

Record companies should make it a priority to create a budget for their artists’ music videos in order to be successful in generating more album sales.

IDOLS SA SEASON8

South Africa’s biggest reality competition, Idols, is back again. For over a decade, the South African version of Idols has been one of the country’s biggest shows, always full of curiousity, scandal and above all, singing. The show's speciality is forging superstars from raw talent and it has consistently launched the contestants to the top of the pop charts.

IdolsSA season promises todeliver yet another amazing show.

Season 8 Idols promises to deliver excitement and an interesting journey for both the audience and the contestants. Thousands of hopefuls auditioned in the hope of being crowned SA’s newest singing sensation. The numbers were reduced down to 89, then 50, then 34 and currently standing at the Top 10.

This season’s judges are Randall Abrahams, Unathi Msengana and Gareth Cliff who are searching for sensational talent and shatter misguided music superstar dreams. Unathi Msengana, the host of the breakfast show on Metro FM is an established recording artist, songwriter and African Renaissance woman. Gareth Cliff joined Idols in Season 2 and has general knowledge regarding the music entertainment. Randall Abrahams is the judge that everyone loves to hate, as well as the judge everyone wants to impress.

The Top 10 Spectacular phase is currently underway and kicked off to a fantastic start. We cannot wait for more and more singing from the Contestants. The first round of performances impressed everyone. The theme was "Old School / New School" and we loved the fresh spin put on to classical songs.

We are waiting with curiosity and anticipation to know those who will make it through to the Top 9. Your votes will decide. Keep voting for your favorite contestant to help grow the South African music industry.

For those who don’t know, you can catch IdolsSA season 8 on M-Net and Mzansi Magic.

 How listeners misinterpreted the Concept YOLO

YOLO is an acronym that stands for: "you only live once." The phrase is used a motto to convey that one should take risks and live life to the fullest because you probably won't get another chance to do it.

Although the complete, shortened phrase has been used casually for years, the shortened acronym was picked up soon after Canadian music artist Drake featured it in his hip hop single entitled "The Motto." On October 23rd of 2011 and according to Know Your Meme, Drake sent out a tweet with the acronym YOLO in it. The following day the acronym had caught on quite drastically across the web. The day after Drake's YOLO tweet, Twitter analytic site Trendistic reported increased activity of tweets that had included YOLO as a keyword.

Twitter users now commonly use hash tag #YOLO to tweet about their once-in-a-lifetime choices and experiences. Some people are serious about it and others use it as a joke. It would really be nice to take life as it came at you by taking the right decisions but instead people tend to make those wrongful decisions because they only live once. It is quite sad to witness people being manipulated to act irresponsibly because of a phrase. What’s more troubling as that it was reported that Drake stated that his audience took the concept in a wrong way because he never thought people will do wrongful behavior  just to justify themselves with the phrase.

Such behavior is the results that parents come to the conclusion that music influence the listeners in a bad way. YOLO should not act as a catalyst to poor decision making. The concept of Yolo isn’t to go smoke and drink, and make yourself a bad person by being mischievous. It is to go out and do something with your life that matters; after all you only live once.