Today i’ve decided to take a look at some South African hip hop and pop, I was very excited to look into their music scene as a vocalist and just as a music lover. So for the South African pop scene I listened to a song from Afrotraction; a South African R&B and Neo-soul musician and producer. I decided to look at his song, “Ngeke” which has a beautiful meledy, and is sung in Xhosa, one of the native languages of South Africa.
To compare Afrotraction to an American artist with a similar style, I decided to look at a song that quickly dominated the charts in 2006, “So Sick” by Ne-yo. On this track, every song Ne-Yo hears reminds him of his lost love; it’s a love song about being tired of love songs. Ne-Yo told Billboard magazine, “A lot of heartbreak went into that song, so that’s why I think a lot of people dug it the way they did – because you can feel it.” Just like “Ngeke” this song is a an apologetic love song with a slow tempo and a great bass line like most Rb tracks tend to have while the video portrays the singer in a low lite space, reminiscing of what used to be. Something I’ve noticed in the pop industry in South Africa is that there are similarities to what the US pop used to be as if they’re just following behind past trends. Unlike the rich rap culture in many African countries, where there are huge amounts of regional individuality and lack of similarity to the US rap game. The US has made a grave mistake of glorying the “Bling” rappers, who has the best whip, smokes the best weed, has the baddest girl and etc. Where the conscious and lyrical side of rap has become less and less popular. Rap in Africa is Revolutionary while rap in the USA is Commercial, artists in the US avoid issues of racial inequality and the treatment of their people while artist such as Keur Gui are starting movements and making music that strictly addresses these situations.