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The local music industry can’t place the blame for its current state solely on the Covid-19 pandemic; it’s been in a mess for a while
AKA

The Samas fiasco and a moment of reckoning for South African music

The local music industry can’t place the blame for its current state solely on the Covid-19 pandemic; it’s been in a mess for a while

  • Shingai Darangwa
5 min read
Brenda Fassie’s Weekend Special eventually sold more than 200 000 copies, announcing the arrival of the so-called township pop, soon to be illegitimately christened “bubblegum”. (Photo by Gallo Images / Sunday Times /Joe Sefale)
BLONDIE AND PAPPA

State of emergency: The rise and the alchemy of the people’s hit

South African artists found a musical identity and a way to code political messages in the anxious 80s

  • Rangoato Hlasane
5 min read
(Joe Safele/ Gallo)
BRENDA FASSIE

Reflecting on Brenda Fassie’s ‘Black President’

"Fassie lived according to her own rules. That’s what made her political."

  • Staff Reporter
3 min read