PAST TO PRESENT WITH AMAPIANO

The Amapiano remix of Uxolo with Echo Deep’s signature electronic soundscapes bridges the acoustic traditions of the past with South Africa’s global presence with HOUSE & AMAMPIANO.

“I have always been inspired by Madala Kunene’s beautiful sound and today I am honoured to be reviving UXOLO, the song that our fathers, uncles, sisters and brothers used to listen to. I found this project exciting, as well as challenging to work on, it came as a surprise to me.

In my mind expectations were high because the original song is one of those timeless South African hits. I always kept in mind that I did not want to lose the original nature of the Vocal but to reflect the current youthful sound, hence I made it Soulful Amapiano.”

ECHO DEEP

THE STORY BEHIND UXOLO

2004, the rise of DJing and electronic music in the 21st century made it hard for traditional musicians to earn a living playing live. South Africa hadn’t experienced that rise of electronic music to the same extent as the rest of the World hence it came as a surprise. After the first major wave in the 90’s Bubblegum or Kwaito then reigned strongly with groups like TKZee, Mandiza or Bongo Maffin. The SA house and electronic dance scene laced with international trends slowly spiced Deep- and Afro House with local flavours into today’s Amampiano and 3 Steps. The meteoric rise of superstar Black Coffee created a new musical landscape leaving a smaller but immensely dedicated sectors for Gospel, Jazz, Pop, traditional genres like Maskandi and for long time favourites including the latest generation of Ladysmith Black Mambazo and strong followings for artists like Thandiswa Mazwa, Simphiwe Dana or Nduduzo Makhathini – South Africa’s major Jazz export.

Traditional music at the turn of the new millennium probably suffered more than other music styles and led to tensions among artists in KwaZulu-Natal. Some private comments of Madala were leaked to the press and resulted in a public verbal fight among musicians and spiritual healers to a point where Madala was isolated from his friends in Durban.

The rift deepened. After receiving a panic call from friends in KwaZulu Natal I picked up Mabi Gabriel Thobejane, a chicken, a big bunch of Impepho and his drums and we got on our way to Durban.

Madala Kunene himself is not just a gifted traditional musician but a Sangoma (spiritual healer) who through his music heals people.

Using music as the medium of negotiation we wanted to close the gap that was open between Madala and Bernard Mndaweni.

The album and DVD Uxolo tell that story of that mission and out of that sessions came two more of my favourite songs by Madala:

Umvelinqange with Bernard’s finest bass intro.

The original Umvelinqange received a recent remix by Sixela – a MUST to check.

Ikhalapi

“Uxolo,” the title track, was discreetly recorded by Madala and me at Sbali Steve’s place in Durban using a portable DAT recorder and two Schoeps microphones.

OUR BROTHERS & SISTERS

20 years on I asked Bafo for his translation of UXOLO and was more than happy to learn that Echo Deep accepted M2KR’s invitation to remix Madala Kunene’s song UXOLO – the one song and the man who came to link the acoustic past of traditional music with the signature Echo Deep soundscapes of Electronica.

In the introduction to the song “Uxolo,” Madala Kunene congratulates former South African President Thabo Mbeki, referring to him by his clan name, Mfo ka Mzizi.

“We congratulate you on your mission to unite Africa. Today we see our Southern Africa being a place of refuge to lots of people from other countries. What you are doing with your team serves as a good example especially in the whole wide world. They see your greatest effort of uniting African people and African countries as a whole. Our African people as South Africans should stop calling African people from other countries insulting names. Our people must know that these are our brothers and sisters “.