Turn on, tune in and celebrate

It is hard to believe that it has been five years since popular urban youth culture was infused with funk and attitude by two contrasting outfits. Yes, M Net’s 24-hour music broadcaster Channel O and Gauteng youth radio station Yfm turn five this month. How quickly these kids grow.

Channel O is distinctly upmarket, available only on satellite. It was touted as the MTV of Africa, dedicated to round-the-clock music and celebrity interviews. In South Africa, its most popular phase was the period when it was available on SABC1. O appeals through its glossy image. From its slamming promotional videos to its glamorous presenters, all designed to be compatible with American R&B and rap videos, the channel has captured the imagination of six million African youths from Lusikisiki to Lagos; from the nearby Skeleton Coast of Namibia to equatorial Guinea and Nairobi. While Channel O is up to date with the news and videos from the biggest stars, it suffers from two limitations. Limited-access viewing suggests that firstly it is trapped in an audience-selection dilemma. In South Africa at least, a lot of the black youth it would love to have watching do not have access to satellite. Also, it is difficult to imagine how Africa’s youth is really bound by a thread of sometimes formulaic, shallow American R&B and rap. A browse through the upcoming Kora Awards nominees will show the poor, embarrassing imitations it has spawned throughout the continent.

Another problem with Channel O is that its artist profile and scripting is linear and unprobing. Apart for presenter Tim Horwood and his Wicked show, it does not push the envelope for its listeners by challenging their tastes. This is reciprocated by a sycophantic, blindly praising audience. Watch the birthday wishes on the website www.channelo.co.za, where you can also interact with the video jocks. Careful you do not throw up when you read where a 29-year-old Nigerian man tells Candy Dandala “I want to be your friend.” “But you are already my friend,” comes the terse, nervous response. The website itself is underutilised. Would this not be a place to go to if you want a review of the recent Jamiroquai concert? Tough luck, not in the world of O.

Yfm started broadcasting by playing wall-to-wall music for a month. The youth’s reception has been mixed. Wits University students would rather be caught dead than be seen mixing with the riff-raff that regularly calls for dedications at Y. Yet it would be dishonest not to admit an occasional pull to elements of its programming. In its first year, it captured 640 000 black youths, prompting a Boer farmer to comment “640 000 black youths in one place … bliksem!” Its listenership accelerated to reach a million in September 1999 and now stands at 1,5-million. Industry opinion suggests it can peak at two million.

Yfm’s greatest contribution to the entertainment scene is reviving house music by tapping into early Nineties retro house that in time got trampled by kwaito. Now every second kid you meet is a club DJ. Yfm also took an already growing kwaito scene and put it on a new growth trajectory. Another unmistakable imprint the youth station has left is flagging the oral tradition. Through its promotion first of rap and later poetry, it has ensured that the kids who are not club DJs are MCs (street poets).

Look for instance at the SABC1 youth variety show Jam Alley. It has a segment in which participants imitate their favourite stars. There used to be a time when all three would simply churn out chart-topping tunes word for word. Last Friday, all three did freestyle acts.

On the dial, Yfm has fluctuated in appeal. This time last year, it was sounding like most of radio — static, moribund and flat. In April, it livened up its line-up by introducing the paired-presenter format.

The greatest change it has undergone was to move from derelict Bertrams to The Zone in Rosebank.

Both O and Y have had their fair share of icons, but because of its mass access, Y has the lion’s share. O has given the youth the likes of Kabelo Ngakane, an affable dreadlocked fellow likeable as much for his ordinariness as for his humour. He ranks with Candy Dandala, Horwood and Mimi K, who was snatched by MTV, as the most popular presenters. Y, on the other hand, has given us larger-than-life characters including Fresh, Phat Joe, Khabzela, funnyman Shabba and its latest creation, the witty, incognito celebrity mocker Mzekezeke.