Kwaito - King of Kwaito

King of Kwaito

There are two artists who claim to be the kwaito originators.

One is M'du, who claims he was the first to mix BubbleGum with House from the UK and the US back in the 1980s. The other is Arthur Mafokate, who is also credited by some as the king of Kwaito, including himself as he wrote in a two-page piece called "Am I the king of Kwaito?"

Mafokate's claim to fame is due to importance of his 1993 song "Don't call me Kaffir", which put the Kwaito genre on the charts.

The first official Kwaito song played in South Africa, done by Arthur, with the usage of one of the most degrading words that white colonialists would call black Africans, Kaffir is the Arabic word for ‘non-believer’ or a ‘heathen’ which is the word that Afrikaans described the natives with. In his song, Arthur demands the Boss, ‘Nee baas’ (No Boss), ‘don’t call me a Kaffir...;

The song, written in several forms, talked about how apartheid will not just go away overnight but change is coming. His groundwork has created an avenue for South African youth to channel their anger, talent and their voice, an outlet that they can call their own. Through this music the youth were able to express their feelings of oppression. One of the originators of Kwaito, DJ and producer Oscar waRona of B.O.P, has said that it started out as house with small additions to that genre such as congas and other instruments. Arthur Mafokate's "major" hit "Don't call me a Kaffir" was about white people in South Africa using that word to refer to the black people. The song was made possible because of the post-apartheid system, but never would have been recognized or accepted in the apartheid times.