Sometime I have a really clear idea of what I want to tell you about. Other times I just sit here clicking my way across the internet, looking for something that makes me stop. Today's little number is the latter: until about 3 this afternoon I'd never heard of Brenda Fassie.
Apparently, she was a South African pop-star-hero, famous for her vocal support of the people in the townships and her opposition to apartheid.
This track feels a bit like house music (unsurprising, given South Africa's love affair with house music, which eventually produced the kwaito love-child). It's got a 4-4 floor to it, and a completely OTT vocal. And a weirdly pointless video (although it wins points from me for the role reversal: nice to see some scantily-clad dancing men for a change)
But it's also got elements of gospel and choral music: there are those call-and-response patterns in the song, and the chorus of male voices. Her voice is exceptional - she seems comfortable right across her range, and she revels in some of the sounds.
If you don't like it on first listen, imagine it dropping in your favourite club, and everyone going crazy to it. Or it drifting out from a minibus stuck in traffic on a crowded street in a hot country. It might make more sense that way. And if you like it, check out the other kwaito that I have carefully pruned from the internet for you.
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