The Problem with Xigaza #1

Avuxeni,

On this episode of “Yi ri yini genge with FanaThePurp”

We review the interesting position Xigaza artists find themselves in as they grow as a genre.

Xitsonga xi ri mbuti yi dya la yi nga khungiwa kona, which simply means you are what you eat. And Xigaza is the new food; even the majors of music distribution have their hands in it. There is money, ku le ku dyiweni, but there is a problem. This isn’t new.

Remember the disco wave? Vatsonga were big hitters during this time; we had the disco trinity – Paul Ndlovu, Peta Teanet, and Penny Penny. But what happened when the millions they were making off disco dried up? They put their resources into the next big thing, and Xitsonga disco collapsed with the rest of the Xitsonga music industry. See, Xitsonga disco kept the lights on for the Xitsonga music industry largely because it produced crossover artists and superstars. Just as it is with Xigaza, it is the leading genre in the Xitsonga music industry. Thanks to social media, Xitsonga is fashionable and cool. That’s how the majors caught wind of it. There is someone within the majors who has his ear to the ground in Limpopo. This person is the very one who alerted the majors to Lekompo music as a follow-up to the commercial success of King Monada, Makhadzi, and Master KG. But these three are unicorns the majors cannot duplicate.

However, there is a chance there are more like them where they come from, and there are, but they are finding performers and not visionaries who can sustain them on the mainstream because va ya la ku hisaku kona. And that’s where the problem is…

Xigaza is currently a wave, and a lucrative one at that. It moves bodies and alcohol sales, that’s its power, but it is in the middle of a capture. Rivalani maxaka, Xigaza a ka hari xa hina, the majors are running an experiment. They are not invested in Xigaza; they are in it for the data. Mi nga rivali ku DistroKid, Spotify, na vo YouTube are essentially tech companies, and their core business is data. Kambe when will we learn, as a people?

This genre is just history repeating itself. Remember Nozinja? What happened when he got signed in Europe? The Xigaza wave of then, known as Xitsonga Electro or Tiremix, died the moment they pushed him on the internet and paraded him across European clubs with the Tshetsha Boys as the next African dancing act. They only took him, just as they did with Sho Madjozi. Va la one Shangaan at a time when the sound crosses the seas. And each time we catch mainstream traction, we always share a space as Limpopo artists. We come as a package. We pop and fade as a collective, and it’s because the powers that-be have no one who understands the essence of this music that keeps dipping in and out of mainstream culture through the people of Limpopo. On top of that, we have undercooked artists, and the majors are not investing in the acts they bring to the top. Everyone who has been signed by the majors hasn’t evolved beyond what we know of them; everything that has come out under their new deals is uninspired, and nothing is worth being called a hit. Va hanya hi tinjamba ta vona ta khale; they are struggling to surpass what they put out before being signed.

How does that work? The Mamelodi Sundowns of music signs you, and you turn into a regular player. Swa nyamisa. Mpfhuka valungu va sungula ku ti katsa ka Xigaza, the hits have been popping out from XamaCcombo, Lekker Stylist, na vo many more instead of the chosen ones. The majors had to pair genge na Aymos ku va pfuna to fight back because, no matter what they drop, va tsandzeka to dominate with hits. They needed Aymos so much that they let him a dyoha Xitsonga when they could’ve helped him pronounce his words well, but they couldn’t afford to be kicked off this hit.

Proving what I am building towards: there are no Xitsonga A&R and songwriters within the major camps. They have no human resources to keep this wave alive because a hi ya vona, va tsakisiwa hi ku yi le ku tsutsumeni. Risimu ro fana na Xigubu by Aymos is destined to be a hit because it’s a communal anthem and we don’t have enough of them as a people, kambe our stars delivered fluff. They read the “Shangaan song” script, where you must mention something about Xigubu, Makhwaya, Xibelani, na Xiseveseve, and throw in the word Gaza or call the language Xichangani, then mislabel Vatsonga and call them Matsonga, and end it off by using the double barrel of Vatsonga-Machangani. Loko u suka kwalano, u sungula ku huwelela matiko-nkulu Giyani being the most popular. Then va tatisa hi S/O to Kokwani and recite the political clan praise of Gazankulu homeland.

No loloha, I would make a list of all these songs kambe they aren’t worth the effort. What’s worth the effort is mentioning that this anthem / song model comes from the success of Kaya Gaza kuhluvukile by Obed Ngobeni. The script hasn’t changed ever since this classic song became part of the national fabric of South African pop culture. Everyone knows the song, but they know it via Mahlathini and Mahottela Queens, kambe a hi kona ka teto. It’s a story for another day how the song became Zulufied for mass appeal…

My point is, Xigubu isn’t a new concept. Penny Penny made a career making such songs.

• Shichangani (on Shaka Bundu, 1994)
• Ingani (on Yogo Yogo, 1996)
• La Phinda Ishangane (on La Phinda Ishangane, 1997)
• A xi kona xo tsanda mchangana (on King of Makhwaya, 2001)

The references are endless, but there is no one in the major camps able to draw from this history and write better songs. They don’t study the legends. Penny Penny is who he is because he made inclusive conscious music. To Valungu it sounded like bubble gum, but Penny Penny was addressing global politics and social norms in his music. The only thing bubble gum about the man is his fashion and showmanship. He is one of the best social commentators to ever do it. He isn’t a GOAT because he outsold 90% of the Xitsonga music industry, he is one of the best songwriters to ever live.

Back to Xigaza…

A hi ro sungula the darlings of the Majors va tsandzeka ku tsala risimu ro vupfa. Remember Shyla? The majors called up Una Rams to help them, and he wrote and sang circles around Blackbiss. Then va landza Sjava ku a lamula since he caught the Xitsonga bug, and still John J got outshined hi sivara va le Thohoyandou. Even before that, Sho Madjozi got the chance to feature the greatest Xitsonga musician of all time, and she did the same: xibelani this, village that, humble this…

Did our imaginations die na Ntsan’wisi maxaka?

This can be avoided if the majors provide our Avengers with songwriters, and we have them. The Avengers trust and look up to these songwriters. Our Xigaza stars are proving to be regional stars. They freeze on the mainstream stage; they can’t cross over because they write songs for ka Nkovani na le 17. Bliss va ze va n’wu phaka na Makhadzi to keep him relevant, and this isn’t out of hate. If the music is right, there would be no need to drop the same song every month, fake a relationship, and post daily on social media. It’s like a va tshembhi va fikini vafana lava, a va swi koti to be Superstars. They spent too much time mimicking hip-hop videos that now, when they are the stars of the videos, it looks like va hava plani, same as the girls, and the people behind them. The music has low replay value; it dies the moment a new song catches fire. It’s all about alcohol, vugangu, na magelegele. And that is fine; it sells. But why back ndzilo wa mavivi instead of signing people who can maximize this wave? Because a va na mhaka na hina. This is why it was a bad move to sign to them, because all they provide is marketing, and I’m sure they take more than you do, leaving you to live off the gigs. The quality of sound isn’t at an international level for international distribution; the songs don’t sound consistent across devices. That’s what majors are supposed to bring: elevation.

What’s the point of leaning on them if nothing changes?

But let’s focus on the solution…

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“Keep exploring, keep learning, and let the language guide you.”