Top 10 Iconic Kwaito albums
Kwaito music has always been a reflection of what’s happening in the streets and in the township. It’s been the dominant genre in South Africa roughly between 1997–2011. However, ever since then Kwaito has been on a downward spiral and some can say it has become extinct in modern times. On the other hand some can say Kwaito has simply evolved and influenced new genres like Gqom and Amapiano.
Here we take a look back at which Kwaito albums impacted the culture and were simply too hard to ignore.
10. Kabelo - And the beat goes on/Exodus
Kabelo Mabalane, one third of TKZee, gave us some major classics at his peak. Some would say that he was the ‘Beyonce’ of the group because he went on to drop 10 solo projects with tracks like “Dubula” and “Pantsula 4 life’ dominating the airwaves.
It was hard picking one album that made an impact so I picked two: ‘Exodus’ & ‘And the beat goes on.’ However I’m leaning more towards ‘And the beat goes’ on because as a youngin this album made my December epic!
In this album Kabelo raps about everything from appreciating beautiful women in ‘Reverse yomhlaba’, life in ‘Zonke’, love and surviving the materialistic world. What really stands out though is how Kabelo shed away from the typical Kwaito practice of repetitive lines in a verse and started rapping in more detail, which gives you a better sense of the calibre of artist he really was.
“Abomandla mabebizw’emoyeni bengichesa
UMdu phezukwendlu, bengichesa
ITkZee mayidla bantwana, bengichesa
Kwafika bo dash nabo Zola ngisaphihlisa” — Dubula
9. Thebe - Lenyora
With over 20 years in the business, Thebe Mogane, is undoubtedly a Kwaito legend. He gave us major hits from ‘Bula boot’ to ‘Ungawa kum’ to ‘Jika Uthi’ and many more. A live wire on stage and on the dance floor.
I never really knew how good Thebe was ‘till I saw him live on stage back in my hometown of Polokwane, Limpopo. The man was untouchable! Easily the best performance of the night as he kept us dancing his whole set.
That’s why I think his best album to date is ‘Lenyora.’ This album is so good I was convinced every track is surely going to be a hit. Standout songs are ‘Safety belt’, ‘Groovers prayer’ and ‘Lenyora’. Make sure you are ready to dance to this one.
8. Zola - Khokhovula
Some would consider Zola as ‘2pac wa se Mzantsi.’ This seems like a wild comparison but if you really think about it, there are similarities.
Zola was a voice of the people, in songs like ‘Don’t cry’ and ‘Stars' he touches on the trials and tribulations we all face in life particularly township life. He was a voice of reason and hope. At the same time he gave us hits to dance to like ‘Ghetto fabulous’, where he raps about how he’s one with the hood and how they dress as affluently as they wish making them ghetto fabulous.
He has always managed to translate his message to different audiences to the point where he had his own TV show, Zola 7, that’s sole purpose was to help others.
7. Brown Dash - Mthandazo Wabolova
Gone too soon.
A definite legend in the making.
Brown Dash made good music bafowethu, really good music. It’s a pity we couldn’t get more.
He started out as Mzekezeke’s right hand man to becoming the main man himself. His debut single ‘phansi' komthunzi welanga’ was a banger that had the whole country dancing. He then went on to do collaborations with artists like Zola, Brickz and Mdu.
However his most memorable track in my opinion is Vum Vum which is a dedication to former Orlando Pirates football player, Gift Leremi, after he was killed in a car accident.
6. Trompies - Respect(Toasted Gona Ganati)
Trompies are like the Godfathers of Kwaito, they were massive for the culture while they were young guys just trying to make music to now being record exec’s, lawyers and producers.
Trompies have had so many hits over the years making it really hard to choose one album. The kind of music everybody loved— from the young kid on the street to your mom’s work colleague. So I went for Respect - Toasted Gona Ganati.
The standout track from this album is ‘Magasman’ featuring the late great, Lebo Mathosa. Also who can forget the anthem “bengim’kaka" featuring T’zozo.
5. Brickz - Face brick
Before being convicted to 15 years in prison after being found guilty of rape, Brickz had a bright future ahead of him.
He was signed to DJ Cleo’s ‘Will of Steel productions’ and together they were a hot combo. You could tell that DJ Cleo did the production on all if not most of his music and for some time it was working.
Brickz’ break out single ‘Sweety my baby’ was a smash hit, which had everybody wondering who this new guy is. Soon we learnt that he was signed to Cleo and almost immediately he become a fan favourite. Then he released another hit record ‘Tjovitjo' which then proved to us that this guy means business.
However as the years went by and the success started winding down, Brickz was found guilty of rape and sent to prison.
4. Professor - University of Kalawa Jazmee
This is one of my favorite Kwaito albums, hands down. I didn’t know Professor was capable of creating such a good body of work with numerous hits as well. Professor was always that guy doing features with Tira & Sox, T’zozo and other Kalawa Jazmee artists, never really the main guy on the song. But on this album he proved his pedigree.
This album had 3 hit records that came out that year: Jezabel, Imoto and Lento, all still classics to this day. This album to me showed that Durban based artists have a point to prove because as time went on they became key players to genres like Gqom coming along.
3. Big Nuz - Undisputed
For a long time Big Nuz has easily been the catalyst for Durban Kwaito Music, DKM, as they used to refer to it. DKM had a certain swagger about it which is it’s house music influences. Similar to a house track, from the minute the beat dropped it had you tapping a leg or bouncing while steadily building to the verse then eventually the climax of the song.
I can confidently say ‘Umlilo' was easily Big Nuz’s biggest song off of their 2009 album, Undisputed.
2.Tkzee - Guz 2001
I must admit at the time the idea of creating TKZee Family was next level because this album was legendary. I can only assume they were trying to create a stable within the label similar to Lil Wayne under Young Money or Diddy under Bad Boy records.
Unfortunately it didn’t last or result in more albums but this one album was enough to influence the genre. Guz 2001 had songs like ‘Fiesta' which was more of a sing-a-long summer pop song. In contrast they also had hard, raw, street tracks like Zinja zam’, to balance the music.
This album is definitely a top seller in my books.
1.Tkzee - Halloween
“Hello December!”
Easily one of the most important albums that shaped the festive season! One song that comes to mind is ‘Dlala mapantsula' and almost immediately memories of celebrating New year’s eve as a youngin take over my mind.
What makes TKZee and this album so iconic is because the music and style is so timeless. Not a single song on this album sounds remotely cheesy after 20 years of listening, it’s still all musical gold.
Furthermore TKZee were by far the most influential Kwaito act when it came to festive season hit songs during the Kwaito era. Untouchable.
