Fifty years ago, disco started having an impact. Its influence was felt even in apartheid South Africa
The singer will pay homage to legendary artists such as ‘Mama Africa’ and Brenda Fassie
The X-word gets trotted out like a beauty pageant contestant to dismiss legitimate border control issues
The song breaks away from his normal style and rolls back the years
Yeoville in 1994 was the radical, hedonistic heart of South African creativity. Thirty years later, Carlos Amato asked some of its denizens what the dream meant – and where it went
Where does Workers’ Day come from?
Why do we have weekends? What should we listen to on weekends?
And why is Brenda Fassie’s first hit song essential for your weekend?
Lensman Mbuzeni Zulu’s subjects ranged from black popular culture to bloody unrest
Dive into the South African Music Awards’ history to see how far SA music has come and where it might be headed to
Books by or about local musicians, the music business and the music scene
The untimely passing of Kuli Roberts, gossip columnist du jour of post-apartheid’s Gilded Age, shocked the nation. Bongani Madondo, who first encountered her earlier in her career, looks beyond the red carpets and banana skins
Gallo retraces its steps for new gold in its legacy project series Gallo Remixed
Koleka Putuma’s triumphant adaptation allows audience to see stagecraft influence poetry
The Jazz Expressions concert in level one lockdown was a reaquaintance with friends, music and jazz photography
The artist Nakhane is fatigued by the idea that lifestyle choices are ‘other people’s business’
The poet’s new book does the necessary work of reinscribing women into history, but is it poetry
When news of the passing of one of SA’s most iconic musicians broke, Bongani Madondo revisited his songbook and located him in the global pantheon of the greatest vocalists, ever
The award-winning music icon and humanitarian Yvonne ‘Princess of Africa’ Chaka Chaka speaks to Ntombizodwa Makhoba on being a strict gogo to her three adorable grandchildren, her new hobby of hiking and her current favourite track, Ibhanoyi, as well as launching WOMan Radio, and other ideas the 55-year-old has dreamed up for artists to earn a living during the pandemic
South African artists found a musical identity and a way to code political messages in the anxious 80s
Kwaito was born during South Africa’s transition to democracy and lives on as a kind of heritage
Bored in the house? Here’s a list of shows and talks to binge on while you wait to go outside
"Fassie lived according to her own rules. That’s what made her political."
Amid the fratricidal political mayhem threatening to rip the soul of the country asunder, a music festival proposes that local is the national
The songstress is hesitantly making her comeback and her treasured audiences hope to see her soar
“We respect her. You check the sun, it’s blazing on that statue. You can see the light, you can see the dark. It’s like she changes with the day.”
Despite missing dates and facts in the late singer’s life, Bongani Madondo’s latest collection of essays attempts to make sense of MaBrrr’s epic life.
Mabrr died on May 9 2004, 10 years ago today. What she was and what she continues to mean is examined in I’m Not Your Weekend Special.
Has the role of music journalist been relegated ?to being simply a punter of product?
In 1983, a maxi single called "Weekend Special" exploded on to the music scene, launching one of SA’s most sensational stars, Brenda Fassie.
"The People Want Mandela", a South African equivalent of Quincy Jones’s "We are the World", will finally be released after it was banned for 23 years.
Nic Hofmeyr tells the secret history of "The People Want Mandela" and how it has been salvaged for generations to come.
SA’s hip-hop and kwaito stars, including a hologram of the late Brenda Fassie, celebrated the country’s musical history at the Hansa Festival of Legends.
The inaugural Hansa Festival of Legends featured the usual highs, lows, hits and misses – but everyone was there to see Brenda Fassie’s hologram.