Bongo Maffin
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Bongo Maffin is a South African kwaito music group. Kwaito is a type of bubblegum music that has become very popular with the youth in South Africa since the early nineties. The group became famous for its hit albums such as Thath'isigubhu. Its lead singer, Thandiswa Mazwai, has since gone solo, releasing an album, Zabalaza.
Bongo Maffin formed in 1996, starting as a project of South African deejay Oscar. Appleseed, one of the band members, was born and raised in Zimbabwe, and brings a distinct reggae flavor to the group's music. Another member, Stoan, began his musical career as a singer for the kwaito band Thebe, while Thandwisa (or Red as she if often called), joined in 1997 after working with them as a backup singer and studio musician. The group's expansive and spiritual take on the dance-oriented genre has been compared to the Fugees' broadening of American hip-hop. The comparison is reinforced by singer Thandwisa's soulful crooning, which is reminiscent of the Fugees' Lauryn Hill. Their common passion for music has had a synergistic effect on their collective creativity. The fourth member of the group, Speedy, has since left the group and embarked on a solo career.
The trio's music is rooted in the rhythms of house music, but they incorporate reggae, dancehall, rap and contemporary R&B. The group, however, also gives props to their homeland, adding sounds from South Africa's many homegrown genres: the bouncy beats of mbaqanga, gospel and the choral sound of iscathamiya made famous by Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Bongolution is the group's first international release on Sony Music International/Lightyear Entertainment, and their fourth album, which finds them continuing to expand the boundaries of kwaito. "Twasa" talks of going through a right of passage while moving to a funky house beat. "The Way (Kungakhona)" embraces both township jive and contemporary electronic rhythms. "Will U be There" thrusts Thandwisa among the world's best R&B crooners. With its unique sound and style, Bongo Maffin has already become the world ambassadors of kwaito. They have been tapped for shows by international stars such as Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Skunk Anansie and Boys to Men. They also performed at Nelson Mandela's birthday celebration. When the Central Park Summerstage Festival series wanted to premiere kwaito music in New York City, the producers chose Bongo Maffin.
On the home front, they won the South African Music Award for "Best Kwaito Artist" in 1999 and recently were the recipients of the 2001 KORA All African Music Awards for Best African Artist. "Everything that Bongo Maffin does is about consciousness," says Appleseed. "Bongo's trying to be a musical representation of the ideas of the African Renaissance." And that movement has truly caught fire: Bongolution is already platinum in South Africa, a mere six month's after its release.
They have since released their new album New Construction.
