Mduduzi Dlamini CD of the week
Boom Shaka have come a long way since the release of their debut single, It’s About Time, late in 1993, and the subsequent album of that name. The follow-up, It’s Our Game (No Need to Claim), was luke warmly received.
Now we have their third album, Words of Wisdom, coming after a mild furore over their rendition of (half) the national anthem in what looked to many like an act of sabotage. The Booms have distanced themselves from the kwaito fringe, and perhaps it can be fairly said that they were never constrained by such a hackneyed form of music, being always willing to transcend its particular limits.
This is a major-label debut without former producers Don Laka and Osacr wa Rona. The production here lies solely with the house- spinning Christos Katsaitis. It finds them all grown up, and your parents are gonna hate them for it. It means that the Booms have found themes tailor-made to fit their provocative image – sexuality, personal liberation, personal pride, individuality and, wonderfully, independence. Rare traits indeed in the lexicon of local music, let alone kwaito.
Take for instance the trio (though badly sequenced) Free, Don’t Be Ashamed and Gwcala. The last-named, a youthful defence of female sexuality, appears here in a clean version. The earlier single should have caused more of a furore than their Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika, in view of its use of Zulu four-letter words.
The album, clocking in at well over an hour, may be a bit long, but it heralds a bold new step for South African dance music, whether you choose to perceive it as kwaito or not.