Tsiki insists kwaito is not dead

| Thursday June 14, 2012 00:00

 

This has resulted in some Kwaito groups disbanding while other musicians try to play around with their sound to produce one that is on par with modern times.In fact, the birth of a new sound called Kwaito-kwasa in Botswana was greatly influenced by the waning appeal of the original Kwaito. Kwaito was possibly the biggest selling music genre after Gospel in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Though some critics have declared Kwaito dead, some players in this urban music maintain it is still alive.One such musician is a young talent named Tsiki (Mbulawa Nthoiwa), whose debut album Os'ka Re Botsa created a lot excitement 18 months ago.Tsiki insists, 'Kwaito is very much alive. Just like other genres, it has gone through a little bit of revolution and maybe has lost its old rough feel but still has an impact.'The 26-year-old who is due to release his second album later in July, has added some new elements to his music. This album will boast a fusion of house beats with the old-school Kwaito flow.

The budding star asserts this was a necessary move. 'It is an open secret that people are more into House music, and if a musician is to grab the audience's attention the way to go would be to entice them with that sound. But it does not mean you should shift completely from Kwaito. It is just creating something with a few new features,' Tsiki said. The artist describes his latest album, titled Stiletto as hardcore and ideal for night crawlers.