Etymology
The word kwaito is an Isicamtho term from the Gauteng townships and encompasses styles that range from guz, d'gong, and isgubhu to swaito. The word originates from the Afrikaans kwaai, which traditionally means strict or angry, although in more common and contemporary use the word is a loose translation of the English term cool. Kwaito led a post-Apartheid township subculture into the mainstream. Despite the fact that the Afrikaans language is associated with the apartheid regime and racial oppression, Afrikaans words are often drawn into the Isicamtho vocabulary, reshaped and used in a related or new context. M'du Masilela, a pioneering Kwaito artist, said, "When house music got popular, people from the ghetto called it Kwaito after the Afrikaans slang word kwai, meaning those house tracks were hot, that they were kicking." Another Isicamtho word derived from the Afrikaans word kwaai is amakwaitosi, which means gangster. The popular Kwaito artist and producer Arthur Mafokate describes the relationship between Kwaito and gangsterism as music revolving around ghetto life.
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