South African Popular Music

An exploration of South African popular music that traces the timeline of Apartheid alongside important moments in the development of the worldwide pop industry.

Music can be a mighty weapon in the fight for freedom. Disguised in a danceable hook or shouted for the world to hear, artists have used songs to deliver important truths and bring listeners together in the face of a segregated reality. In the grip of the brutal Apartheid era, South Africa crafted its own idiosyncratic popular musical vernacular that operated both as sociopolitical tool and realm of escape. In a country with eleven official languages, music had the power to unite South Africans in protest. Artists bloomed a new idyll from the branches of countless storied musical traditions, and in turn found themselves banned or exiled.

In this book, Lior Phillips takes a close look at South African popular music, tracing how it spread around the world while retaining a full suite of unique and original languages, both literally and figuratively. From the storied ache of mbube harmonies of the 1940s to the electronic boom of kwaito and the amapiano and house explosion of the 2000s, this book illuminates South Africa’s storied popular music history.

Genre: A 33 1/3 Series publishes short books about musical subgenres that have intrigued, perplexed, or provoked listeners.

Lior Phillips is a South African music and culture journalist. She is the creator, producer, and host of the podcast This Must Be the Gig and she has written about music, film, and art for Billboard, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, NPR, GQ South Africa, and many more. Born in Cape Town, she lives in Chicago.