Spaza music - a new urban culture

“Youth from the township have many creative ways of expressing their thoughts and emotions. Some do it through poetry, visual arts and music, but I choose to express myself through hip-hop music”, says Luthando Joosen.

Joosen describes spaza music as a unique type of hip-hop. The rhymes in the songs are mostly in Xhosa mixed in with township slang. The people attracted to the music admire deep underground hip-hop.

Luyanda Makhaphela says spaza music is not done in a formal way with a stage.

Makhaphela claims it started in the streets of Gugulethu, where young people stood on street corners and recited verses in Xhosa. The people were not organized. They met, started singing, and then formed groups.

Makhaphela says artists in townships are struggling because their music is not recognized. “Our sounds are culture based. If one wants to understand our African background in depth then one should listen to spaza music”.

“The music is trying to bridge the gap between the corporate artist and the disadvantaged artist in the township.”

“In my group we find a venue that will be suitable for the kind of noise we are going to make, and we just rap. People just come to watch as they pass by and that is one way of attracting fans,” says Joosen.

Most spaza groups perform in hip-hop and slam poetry clubs.