Aluta continua: Wav Gardn (left to right) Kgotso Legare, Katlego Raphathelo, Sisanda Gebe, Moses Shadung and Tumiso Ditinti.
The #FeesMustFall movement was such an era-defining moment for the supposedly “Born Free” generation. For the first time, there was a common cause for them to band behind and use its collective voice to fight for change.
In a lesser-known tale of this time, the late rapper AKA made a cameo appearance at one of these marches. Not long after his arrival, he was turned back by students who sensed disingenuousness in his actions.
This moment stuck with me.
The rapper, born Kiernan Forbes, was known to love the limelight, so the students’ mistrust felt then, and now still, understandable. Their suggestion: “Support them in the booth.”
Though Forbes, who was murdered in 2023, would go on to make questionable “conscious records” (Go listen to Mame on his penultimate LP Touch My Blood), the commercialisation of the genre and his standing, or lack thereof, as a socio-political commentator lessened the song’s impact and even his suitability for such commentary.
Jazz, specifically African/afro-jazz, however, is a genre that spoke poetically to many during #FMF, with spaces like The Orbit in Braamfontein, Joburg, becoming hot spots for it.
The ability of the genre to intertwine with protest songs gave it a malleability that carved upcoming afro-jazz artists like Imvemnyama.
Anyone active in the #FMF movement at Wits in 2015-16 will remember the musician born Sive Mqikela as I do — as a regular face in the thick of critical black thought symposiums and informal meet-ups to discuss the pressing social, cultural and economic issues of the day.
But, for Mqikela, music was an opportunity to add nuance to these ideas: “I had quite a stint in activist spaces and there’s a way those spaces question things and, at times, I felt they could be limited in imagination.”
“And so why I do music is to have a means to have a voice, to show one’s experiences, to question and to open conversation among people who may have similar ideas, concerns and experiences to mine,” Mqikela explains.
The historical context of afro-jazz no doubt played a role in paving the way for artists who mull over such societal issues. From as far back as Miriam Makeba’s famous Soweto Blues and her ex-husband and fellow South African musical heavyweight, Hugh Masekela’s Vuca, among others, jazz always had that foundation.
Ironically, hip-hop had a similar undercurrent before the emergence of the gangster and bling rap of the 1990s and 2000s.
Whereas, in the South African context, hip-hop’s more conscious epoch never took off beyond cyphers in the streets even during #FMF — trust me and anyone with an undying love for marijuana at the time. So, by its heyday, Doc Shebeleza and not the musical reprise of Biko was en vogue.
Afro-jazz however, has never suffered from this dilemma, despite its fluidity over the years.
“It’s a tactical thing as well as a taste thing to do jazz,” according to Imvemnyama. “It’s a slow scholarship — it requires contemplation.
“You look for expressions that can live longer. It becomes a part of the sound DNA of my time, instead of just a moment.”
His first singles You’re Not Who You Think You Are and Sawa Street have a poignant tone that evokes a deep reflection of their themes, mainly that of the lived black experience in the context of the socio-economic situation in South Africa.
Sive Mqikela, known as Imvemnyama.(Photos: Story tell uss Imagery, Matlhlatsi Kgokani and Philela Singama)
Simultaneously, his music craftily cushions the potentially heavy-handedness of these themes with soothing instrumentation and melodies as he croons with a voice fondly familiar and nostalgic — in all the right ways.
“I’m concerned with the idea of contemplation; feeling things for what they are. You don’t have to answer things today. If you don’t have answers you can say, ‘Let me think about it.’ But the questioning spirit must still be around us.”
That questioning spirit is not monolithic. The contemplations, as Imvemnyama would put it, go beyond the intangible and complex manifestations of the lived black experience.
Part of this generation’s many endeavours, whether through art or any other medium, is to continue to redefine the black experience beyond the socio-political gaze.
Makeba herself wrote and sang about love and yearnings of a homecoming while in exile — an equally valid experience.
These are themes, particularly the latter, that resonate with Sisanda “Siiisa” Gebe, the lead singer and songwriter of the fresh neo-futuristic soul band making waves in Johannesburg and Pretoria, Wav Gardn. This is most notable on their second single Ndize (Ndawo Yam’).
“Sometimes, when you’ve been away from home for too long, you disconnect and feel a shift that compelled me to write this love letter to home,” Siiisa expounds. “It gives me closure that things are working out the way they should be and I must trust this process.”
Wav Gardn have an alluring sonic fingerprint laced with hypnotic vocal and instrumental performances that reel one in immediately. According to the group’s musical director and producer, Katlego “Johnny Basz” Raphathelo, the ensemble hoped to “merge the feeling of missing home and being home”.
This is something they achieve and, in so doing, express the cross-generational nuance of the human experience — from Makeba to the Gardn.
The globalised world almost compels a sonic language without form. Their fusion of afro-jazz, neo-soul and R&B is undoubtedly a consequence of the time we live in, whereby the confines of genre are slowly becoming obsolete.
Some might say the influences of Makeba’s time in Guinea morphed her sonic palette as well, with her influence on South African artists like Thandiswa Mazwai, an influence of Wav Gardn, laying the foundations for the amalgamation.
“Us coming together — we’re all from different backgrounds. All those elements coming together produced the sound we have as Wav Gardn,” according to Basz.
“I don’t think it was intentional [to create a blended sound]. We met each other and had the same vision.
“When we got in the studio it was, ‘Let’s make what feels good.’
“Nothing is one dimensional so being able to meet in the middle usually sounds like magic.”
The magic of this amoebic approach to music-making shows in their debut single Umzi Watsha. The group has drawn from the jazz experience of their drummer Tumiso “De’Tumi” Ditinti and the gospel roots of pianist Moses “Lungsta” Shadung, for instance, to communicate ideas of love and heartbreak in sonically intriguing ways, finessed by the touch of sound engineer Kgotso “Finny” Legare.
But whether its deep, thought-provoking ideas or more tender themes that pull at the heartstrings, traditional jazz, African jazz or infusions of the genre, it seems its protagonists share a goal with their music — to assuage the harsh realities of life.
“I’ve always felt compelled to heal through music and words,” Siiisa affirms. “I want people to feel a sense of healing that everything is going to be okay. I would love to bring people closer to God through music.”
This generation is set on using jazz — in whatever form — to say something. Whether it’s through lyrics with a swash akin to Steve Biko or suaveness synonymous with Sindiwe Magona, their voices will be heard.
When it comes to vehemently fighting for ideals that promote a wholesome lived human experience, black or otherwise, jazz has always been sure to support them in the booth.
Wav Gardn are set to release their next single, Dabawo (Rakgadi) featuring Espacio Dios, on 02 May 2025 while Imvemnyama’s next offering Igwababa comes out on 30 May 2025.