South African Music after Apartheid:Kwaito, the “Party Politic,” and the Appropriation of Gold as a Sign of Success

Ongoing contestations: the use of racial signifiers in post-apartheid South Africa

“…The first is the apolitical conceptualisation of race (of being coloured) linked to taste and socio-cultural influences and the 'politics of aspiration ' (e.g. Dolby, 2001;Hammett, 2009;Nuttall, 2004;Steingo, 2005). The second is more concerning, that race is being reworked as a divisive and exclusionary political identity mobilised through discourses of marginalisation and perceptions of 'un-entitlement' to socio-economic citizen rights (Hammett, 2008).…”

“…For many youth, the construction of racial (coloured) identity is about negotiations and appropriations of taste, style and cultures of consumption. In these practices, being young and coloured is associated with particular 'politics of aspiration' (Steingo, 2005) and the expression of identity through appeals to images and imaginaries of success and aspiration that conflate taste and race (Dolby, 2001;Hammett, 2009). Amongst these students, being coloured is associated with the consumption of specific musical genres (Western hip-hop and rap music primarily) and fashion/brand label clothing and accessories.…”

“…The transition from apartheid has also changed the political imperatives of identity claims. According to Steingo (2005), the transition is reflected in a shift from politics and resistance to identification through the 'party politic' and practices of immediate gratification. The use of the coloured identifier by youth is imbricate in these changes, as Hugh, the principal of a former coloured primary school near Sun Valley High, explained,…”

Reworking and resisting globalising influences: Cape Town hip-hop

“…Kwaito, is a highly influential South African genre and form of postapartheid youth cultural expression linked to the (re)making of black, urban youth identities, primarily in Gauteng (Allen 2004;Nuttall 2004a). Kwaito's initial hedonism is viewed as a political act of reclamation (Swartz 2008) that carved a non-political space of transformative identities and new freedoms (Steingo 2005), although recent shifts towards 'a more thoughtful and self-reflexive mode of selfmaking' are apparent (Allen 2004: 101;Swartz 2008). However, its marginal position in the Cape Town music scene (due to historical demographics (see Western 2001)), emergence only in the postapartheid period, and general lack of overt political message means that this genre does not form part of this analysis.…”

Pornographic objectification of women through Kwaito lyrics

“…Like much rap in hip hop, Kwaito lyrics are often filled with misogyny, sex, money and some violence. It can be argued that Kwaito has a unique meaning and role in the lives of young black South Africans, indeed for all South Africans, since it re-arranges the hierarchy of dominance, by including those who have been previously excluded and by shifting the balance of economic power (Steingo, 2005).…”