Movies: Bass motives

A new doccie plugs into SA's innovative dance music genres, from gqom to Shangaan electro, writes Yolisa Mkele

Thousands of kilometres away, on the laptops of a growing number of Europeans, is something one might be surprised to find - music folders titled "Nozinja", "DJ Mujava", and a bunch of other South African electronic musicians from seemingly niche genres like Shangaan electro and qgom.

This underground scene and its backstories are celebrated in a new documentary, The Future Sound of Mzansi, by filmmaker Lebo Rasethaba and musician Nthato Mokgata, aka Spoek Mathambo.

"The film is about the futuristic sounds throughout Mzansi right now," said Mokgata. "We tend to get stuck on the radio stuff but in the country's crevices, nooks and crannies there are some really exciting progressive movements happening, from the poorest people to the upper classes."

One of those movements is Shangaan electro. Spearheaded by Richard "Nozinja" Mthetwa, the genre is a toe-twitching blend of traditional Tsonga basslines and what sounds like the soundtracks of early '90s video games. Nozinja's YouTube videos, which typically feature traditional dancers gyrating while psychedelic things happen around them, have garnered more than 40000 views on YouTube, 17000 listens on Soundcloud and a record contract with UK-based Warp Records.

"The thing is that a lot of people might know about one of the scenes, but might not know about the rest or may not be able to contextualise it, and that's one of the things we wanted to do with this film," said Mokgata.

The Future Sound of Mzansi was born in part out of frustration with the detached, "overly touristic" gaze with which many music documentary makers viewed South African music.

"For the longest time people's stories have been told to them, but now people are telling their own stories," said Rasethaba. "There is a sense of beauty and positivity about being a young black kid in the township because someone is interested in your story."

Mokgata and Rasethaba travelled the country documenting the histories and the areas where the various genres developed. They discovered that despite the fact that sub-genres like qgom - house music from KwaZulu-Natal that takes its name from its thumping basslines - may not be in everyone's musical lexicon, they are very popular across South Africa.

The global spread of these sub-genres has been driven largely by technology. The idea of an artist paying a studio to record a demo and then traipsing across the country to hawk it is going the way of the fax machine. The internet and music software, pirated or otherwise, mean that anyone with access to a computer and a broadband connection can become a producer.

"People are exploring the possibilities of technology," said Mokgata. "They will just trip out and do crazy things. Some of the producers we hung out with were between 16 and 19. They're not the biggest names but they're making some of the hottest beats and getting traction."

The film is about more than just cool sounds and kids making music on computers. At its core it looks at how far our democracy has come in the last 20 years using music to spread its message.

"As much as house music should bring people together, and to a certain extent does, there are still mnyama [black people's] bashes and mlungu [white people's] bashes, which is crazy. Sometimes they might even love the same DJs but they still find a way to separate," said Mokgata.

Even so, he and Rasethaba remain "infinitely hopeful"; the genres are bleeding into each other. By that logic, the drum beat of democracy will eventually lead us all to the same party. LS

• The Future Sound of Mzansi premiered at the Durban International Film Festival and will be screened in Cape Town and Joburg this month. For more information, visit the Facebook page www.facebook.com/Futuresoundofmzansi.