7 The Evolution of Mafikizolo: What’s Next For Africa’s Hottest Dance Act? Previous Full size Next

The band formed in 1997, three years after South Africa’s first democratic elections. Kwaito was in full swing as a dance music mouthpiece for South Africa’s post-apartheid black generation. Groups like Brothers of Peace Alaska and Boom Shaka were at their prime, all produced by the reputable Kalawa records, formed by producers, Oscar “Oskido” Mdlongwa, Don Laka and Bruce Sebitlo.
Oskido, a towering figurehead for SA’s dance music scene, is one of the pioneers of the kwaito sound. At the helm of Kalawa his eye for spotting new music trends, and his hand at nurturing it is unmatched. And while the debate as to whether or not Kwaito is dead continues, Oskido’s role in its evolution at every turn is noteworthy, most recently with his affiliation with the Durban Kwaito movement headed by Professor and Big Nuz. But Kwaito needs a revival considering events like the passing of Brown Dash last year and TKZee’s short-lived return of 2009. There have been talks of a come-back from Kalawa groups: Bongo Maffin, Alaska and Trompies (who are already working on an album). If true, 2014 will be an interesting year.

Coming from the youth club scene of Johannesburg’s western townships in the 1990s, Theo and Nhlanhla, who grew up on the same street, covering songs by Boys II Men and Toni Braxton, approached Kalawa with a demo. And it was Theo’s song writing abilities that would seal the deal.
“When Nhlanhla and I approached Kalawa, we were an R&B duo. Oscar asked us to do a kwaito-influenced song. I wrote a song called Mafikizolo (meaning new kids on the block) and that track got us a deal with Kalawa and our name. But because groups (of more than two) were trendy in the kwaito era, Oscar added Tebogo Madingoane to complete us. Kwaito was also characterised by a lot of chanting at the time, so we became one of its first vocal (singing) groups,” Theo recalls.
Mafikizolo went on to inspire a trend of the one girl- two/three boys- band structure which would become a working formula of the late 90s afro pop / post kwaito movement, with the emergence of Bongo Maffin (1998) and Malaika (2003).
They also carved a working formula for themselves explorating marabi and kwela sounds. The latter characterized the golden age of South African jazz in the 50s. They came into their own and even moulded their sense of style (50s vintage) with their fourth and fifth albums, Sibongile (2002), featuring the hit, Ndihamba Nawe and Kwela (2003). This move earned them respect from SA jazz legends like Hugh Masekela and Dorothy Masuka, who’ve since collaborated with the band.
“For the first three albums, people did not know our songs. It depended on how we presented ourselves to capture our audience. So when we finally nailed our look, we had already leant a lot about giving people a show,” Nhlanhla says.
Just when they were starting to enjoy their recognition, Mafikizolo lost band member, Tebogo Madingoane in a tragic shooting incident. They had to restructure amidst pressures to replace him. But their stance is that, “As Africans you can’t replace a person. And that we have not replaced him is how we pay tribute.”
The band came back from that with their first album as a duo, Van Toeka Af (2005) and Six Mabone (2006). They subsequently went on to pursue solo projects. Theo released I Am in 2008 which (won Best African Pop at South African Music Awards) and Grateful in 2010. Around the same time Nhlanhla released her albums Inguquko and Lingcinga Zam.
On their return, the gap they had left when they went solo had not been filled. This is perhaps owing to the dearth of kwaito and afro pop which have been overtaken by house music as is evident by the emergence of house bands like Liquideep, Mi Casa and Muzart. So while Reunited has elements of Mafikizolo’s wedding song signature, it’s the afro dance sound that has made their reunion resonate so widely.
“The production behind Reunited was a collective process. When we looked at the gap and decided on a new sound, we saw that afro pop had been overdone. We called in Kalawa’s young producers made up of Black Motion, Uhuru and DJ Micks. But Mandla Spikiri and myself worked on some songs. And we also brought in May D. We’re all about developing talent and we have now extended this philosophy to our production wing. We have been grooming these young producers underground,” Oskido says.
Reflecting on the resounding success of their 2013 comeback, Theo says, “We now feel strongly connected and rooted. We have a common goal to see a lot of African musicians coming together and seeing African music being fully recognised globally.”
The pressure is now on to see what Mafikizolo’s musical peers do next. 2014 will be telling.