Ian Harris and Struan Douglas
Moments before the launch of Dantai’s debut album, Operation Lahlela, lead singer Pam Lungu was standing outside, alone on the chilled pavement, smoking. All tense and apprehensive. ”Looks like you’re expecting,” we joked, intuiting in her excitement the arrival of something unique.
Not the album – we knew that was coming. And definately not a baby. No, that unique something turned out to be a silver stretch limo, sent to deliver Dantai to their inaugural album ceremony, and transform tacky, bewildered Observatory into something from a flashy New York studio set. Amid waves of cameras and fans of all varieties, all calling for the new act on the block, Dantai arrived, finally putting Cape Town onto the kwaito map.
That’s not to say there hasn’t been kwaito here before. No, no, we under the wilting shade of the New National Party flag dig the grooves being put out by Gauteng bands. But the time came at last for us to celebrate kwaito in Cape Town, and with the response Dantai whipped up, it’s easy to see how they could have sold 2 000 copies of Operation Lahlela in just a week, gone to number four on Metro FM’s top 10 and been selected as the first-ever South African hit video on Studio Mix.
The reason for Dantai’s quick success is that they have channelled their sights slightly differently to their counterparts up north. Free of record company strings, they have created something representative both of the Cape and Dantai, the individuals. It’s very much their own album, done in what manager Terry Pinana calls a ”Dantai style”.
The Dantai style transcends the typical kwaito script. It’s got the regular kwaito beats, does the same things to your feet, but it toys with genres a bit more, mixing up a bit of soul, a touch of R&B and a dash of hip hop. Lungu fronts the band, blending it all together with her pointed lyrics. ”I am not going to sing about the boys’ escapades of sex and drugs in the townships, I want to have a message and meaning. It’s never only going to be party songs. And we also sing in different languages, English, Xhosa and township slang … because we are musicians and we would love for our music to be appreciated by everyone.”
It’s been a very difficult process for the group, says Pinana. ”Hectic. As an independent group we’ve been working with zero budget. It’s been a first in every aspect and everything has worked out well. We had enough songs to record about a year ago, but we’ve been in production for that time, taking it slowly, paying those studio costs.
”But because we have been organised, had a vision and pushed for things to happen, we managed to secure a distribution deal with Nebula Bos. And we were very happy with that – better than working with a major record company because Nebula is new and putting energies into marketing independents, no matter how big or small they are. If we were signed to a major company, things wouldn’t be happening this way because no big record company would believe in such a new and unproven group.”
Whereas the core of the music industry is in Johannesburg, Dantai has made it all happen in Cape Town – from recording right through to distribution. ”When young musos or groups come up with demos, they usually send their stuff to Jo’burg in order to make things happen for them. We had the same decision to make, but we had certain commitments in Cape Town so we couldn’t go to Gauteng. We decided to stick it out here, grow up in our own territory and try and make sure we get a base of support in Cape Town first.”
And now that Dantai is being regarded as one of the top kwaito groups, with London radio stations showing keen interest in the album, they have shown the way for other Cape Town talent. ”Record companies and music promoters can now see that things are happening in Cape Town and they should start paying attention. We would love for those people to come and give Cape Town a chance,” says Pinana. ”This town’s not sleeping. There’s a lot of talent here and we can make things happen, if only we are given a chance.”