Reggae music in SA is almost forgotten, thanks to little airplay on radio.
While in some parts of Africa, reggae is competing in the same space as pop genres, in SA it has been relegated to short night slots. While elsewhere on the continent reggae enjoys staying power, thanks to new artists who are spicing up the genre with new styles, such as Afro reggae dance hall, in SA reggae is in the middle of a long winter.
Even at the time SA's global icon Lucky Dube was killed in Rosettenville, Johannesburg, on October 18 2007, reggae had already begun experiencing dwindling fortunes. As a result, Dube and his band were more active internationally than at home.
As the whole world observes February as International Reggae Month, Sowetan looks at how the genre has been surviving. A combination of factors that include lack of airplay on mainstream TV and radio stations, exclusion in main festival events and lack of coverage in the media, have been cited as the cause of the genre’s stagnancy. SABC's public service radio stations have been slammed for sidelining the music in its programming, reducing reggae to short weekend slots.
According to experts and reggae artists, the few radio stations still playing reggae, albeit in one-hour slots, some late at night, the genre better exposure to thrive and attract new followers among younger people.
Adv Sipho Mantula, who also presents a TV reggae show, says lack of representation in music festivals and other music events was harming the fortunes of the reggae artists, reducing them to paupers despite their musical talents.
Mantula said the belief by newer radio station managers that reggae was a genre with a niche fan base initiated or sped up the falling fortunes of the genre.
“Firstly, reggae was sidelined by the recording industry; that is why reggae artists went independent and released their own music. It is not true that reggae has a niche following; [the music] is loved by [both] Rastas and non-Rastas because of the message behind it. Not being played on radio stations denied people a chance to hear reggae hits produced by young artists,” Mantula says.
“We are grateful that there are few radio stations like Phalaphala and Umhlobo Wenene who still give this music a platform. We are not visible [at] national and provincial cultural events.
“Unlike Lucky Dube and Jambo (Sipho Johnson), who were very visible, the young artists are sidelined. There is a stigma that the music and culture belongs to Jamaica. We have artists like Bongo Riot who are singing in African languages.”
Despite the odds reggae is facing in SA, the genre has managed to attract younger artists which produce the music with new sounds. These include acts such as Crosby and Azania Band, Black Dillinger, and Skank and The Roots.
Apart from roots reggae, the flagship style, reggae has always had subgenres like rocksteady, dub, loversrock and ragga. The latter went on to spark dance hall and ethno-ragga outbreak, which were taken up by many African artists.
In SA, the biggest ethnic reggae music is recorded by Venda artist who sing it in their language. Leading artists include Colbert Mukwevho, Khakhathi, Shufflers Ragimana and Sivhara Mulaudzi, whose band includes his 12-year-old daughter Murunwa who plays a mean bass guitar.
Meanwhile Mantula, whose Thursdays show on Soweto TV, boasts viewers are anything between 80,000 and 100,000, has fan bases in Katlehong, Vaal Triangle, Cape Town and Limpopo. He believes it is not all doom and gloom as reggae's category has been restored by the SA Music Awards (Samas).
Like her own father Lucky Dube, Nkulee Dube and other young SA reggae artists still have to look abroad to make a living.
Nkulee tells Sowetan she has been forced to live outside SA because there are no gigs for reggae artists locally. Nkulee spends her time between France, Holland, Canada and the US for gigs. She last performed in SA in 2016.
“There are no gigs locally. Our music is not played on all the radio stations. Promoters tend to not take reggae artists seriously when it comes to performance fees. They always want to pay us lower than pop artists. They forget that I play with a full band.
When you go to Kenya, Gambia, Zambia and Uganda reggae is big and lively. It is played any time of the day. Just like my father, I have to live outside the country to make a living. It is difficult for me as a woman to hustle because women are always questioned for many things. People even question the message in your songs,” Nkulee says.
Fikile Makhalemele says lack of airplay also affects promoters. She says reggae artists have been hit hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Artists that I book are not known because their music is not played anywhere. Unknown artists will not bring you a big crowd. The culture is growing because people host dance sessions every weekend in different clubs and spaces. These dance spaces have over the years become youth culture. When we host events, we host themed events aligned with social issues like gender-based violence and Human Rights Day,” Makhalemele says.
Makhalemele says before Covid-19 hit SA, her events were able to attract about 5,000 people, especially when featuring international artists. The recent show held in December in Soweto attracted 6,00 people. She says another struggle was getting financial support to host events.
Seasoned reggae singer Thuthukuni Cele, who played keyboards and was a vocalist for Lucky Dube's One People Band, says: “The biggest challenge that we face as artists is not being played. The few radio stations that play reggae do so on weekends. We want reggae to be played any time of the day just like other genres. In December, we tried hosting an event in Empangeni and the turnout was bad because people do not know the reggae artists and their music.”
SABC group executive for corporate affairs and marketing Gugu Ntuli says: “The SABC can confirm that it does play reggae music, albeit at a much lower percentage than mainstream local or international music, as it is a niche market or genre in the country. Most of our radio stations do either have a feature or play reggae songs on a monthly basis as the SABC does acknowledge that there are listeners who love and enjoy the genre.
“The public broadcaster would like to encourage local reggae artists to approach the different SABC radio stations, through their music committees which are guided by the SABC’s music policy, with their music offerings, as the SABC has nothing to gain by sidelining reggae music or any other music genre.
“Reggae music artists and their record labels are subject to the same selection processes as other genres when they submit their music. Furthermore, the SABC is responsible for promotion of local content regardless of genres. New genres are tested on listeners through research and airplay. The listener is the ultimate arbiter in this case, as stations schedule content to satisfy listeners’ needs.”
SA reggae nation will celebrate the month of February with different events.
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