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Maskandi

latest news & developments
The Metro FM Music Awards 2026 nominations spotlight amapiano’s dominance, with Jazzwrld and Thukuthela emerging as the names to watch.

Jazzwrld and Thukuthela lead as Metro FM Music Awards 2026 nominees revealed

The Metro FM Music Awards 2026 nominations spotlight amapiano’s dominance, with Jazzwrld and Thukuthela emerging as the names to watch.

Pearl Thusi is an ever-evolving creative force stepping into a powerful musical rebirth where her sound
becomes a picture and her story finds new voice. Photo: Supplied

Pearl Thusi: A daughter’s offering

A cinematic Afrosoul offering, Sodwa captures Pearl Thusi’s journey into music through nostalgia, collaboration and deep emotional clarity

Mpotoze: Love bites in hard Jozi

Ndumiso Khumalo’s voice and mastery of the guitar are mesmerising

Performing: Award-winning singer Jabulani Hadebe, aka Sjava, on stage. Photo: Darren Stewart/Gallo Images

Reflections and Odysseys in Sjava’s new album

Soulful offering, which speaks of love and life’s obstacles, also inspires the listener to dance

Sjava, returns to music street with a new album titled Isibuko (mirror). Photo: Supplied
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Sjava’s new album reflects his ancestral, cultural and spiritual journey

‘Isibuko’ holds a mirror to the musician’s life

Ukhahlamba Zulu Dancers rehearse at the Madala Hostel in Alexandra.  Photo: Oupa Nkosi

Halala the Zulu cultural revival

Hostels are finding ways to transmute blighted history into safe places for cultural expression to take root, Oupa Nkosi discovers

Ihashi Elimhlophe is recording a DVD live in Soweto. Photo: Supplied

Maskandi musician making history

Ihashi Elimhlophe is recording a DVD live in Soweto

A genius, minimalist composer, Mlahleni David Ngcobo never got a chance to pursue a sustained music career. (Graphic: John McCann. Photo: Sandile Ngidi)

David Ngcobo: A maskandi legend who never got his due

Very little is known of the late guitarist, who was a keeper of a stark and foreboding maskandi sound

Bhekisenzo “Vukazithathe” Cele is the subject of a new documentary by Standard Bank Young Artist for Music Nthato Mokgata
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Review: ‘Vukazithathe’, a portrait of the maskandi artist as a mentor and friend

Nthato Mokgata’s documentary ‘Vukazithate’, showing online at the National Arts Festival, tells an intimate story of his mentor and maskandi legend, Bhekisenzo “Vukazithathe” Cele

Full flight: A master performer, Busi Mhlongo always took the audience along with her (Rafs Mayet)
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Busi Mhlongo, Goddam!

It’s been a decade since Busi Mhlongo succumbed to cancer. Niren Tolsi reflects on her life and the singular connection she formed with her audiences

Jazz Musician Billy Monama  (Delwyn Verasamy)
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Billy Monama: stringing together South African guitar history

The guitarist’s book, Introduction to South African Guitar Style: Volume One is due to be published at the end of the year

Juluka’s debut record became a landmark album with an acute awareness and translation of its sociopolitical milieu and that of the nuances of the cultures it drew from.(Fin Costello/ Getty Images)
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While tied to South Africa’s fortunes, Johnny Clegg’s music had a universal appeal

Developing a taste for Zulu music forms like isicathamiya, Clegg would freqeuent townships and hostels at an early age, flouting apartheid laws

(Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Isina Muva liyabukwa

Sjava’s music mirrors the stance of patriarchs who play in the “not all men” territory but present contradictory messages in their work.

Rally cry: Despite facing a trial for corruption, Jacob Zuma, then ANC president, danced and sang at the party’s Johannesburg’s Ellis Park Stadium. Photo: Alexander Joe/AFP

Msholozi desperately tries for another (political) hit

The R25-million budget to have Zuma record an album of struggle songs is not merely about capturing history for posterity and posteriors.

Rich history, vital sounds: Among the best known maskandi musicians are Phuzekhemisi, who is regarded as king of the genre. Photo: Rogan Ward

Tune in to the wails of Maskandi

The genre grew out of Southern Africa’s past and reflects our present and our desired future