The voice sounds like it comes from the ground: deep, rough and powerful. Then three women answer in tight, bright harmony, and a guitar runs underneath them both.
That was the sound of Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens, one of the most successful acts in South African music. They were brought together in 1964 by talent scout and producer Rupert Bopape at the Gallo Recording Company in Johannesburg.
Three parts
The group had three elements. Simon “Mahlathini” Nkabinde was the lead male singer. The Mahotella Queens, whose classic line-up was Hilda Tloubatla, Nobesuthu Mbadu and Mildred Mangxola, sang harmonies and danced. The Makgona Tsohle Band, led by the electric guitarist Marks Mankwane, played the music.
The groaner
Mahlathini sang in the “groaning” style, a deep, bass-heavy vocal that became his trademark. In South African music, male lead singers with this kind of voice were called groaners, and Mahlathini was the most famous of them.
Mbaqanga
The Makgona Tsohle Band is credited with shaping mbaqanga, a style that combined Zulu traditional music with electric guitars, bass and drums. The word refers to a kind of maize porridge, suggesting everyday food for everyday people.
Mbaqanga became the popular music of the townships in the 1960s and early 1970s.
At their peak
By the early 1970s, Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens were among the most popular and profitable acts in black South Africa. They recorded many hits and played to huge audiences, with the Queens’ dance routines as much a part of the show as the music.
Apartheid-era music industry
Musicians in South Africa at the time worked within a system that paid black artists poorly and controlled what they could record and broadcast. Producers and record companies held great power over their careers.
International success
In the 1980s, after years apart, Mahlathini and the Queens reunited. International interest in South African music grew, especially after Paul Simon’s Graceland in 1986, and the group toured Europe and North America, reaching audiences who had never heard mbaqanga.
After Mahlathini
Mahlathini died in 1999. The Mahotella Queens continued to perform and record, keeping the sound alive for new generations.
Why they matter
Before kwaito, amapiano and the global success of South African house, mbaqanga was the sound of the townships. Put on a Mahlathini record now and that growl still cuts through any sound system.
