A few songs into her set, Sho Madjozi asks her performance deejay to “just throw a beat and I’ll see what I can do.” When the beat, a hard-hitting gqom instrumental, is eventually given to her, she ...

His life in music was a struggle against narrow definitions - of ‘race’, instrumental appropriateness and musical genre.

In an excerpt from the 33 ⅓ title "South African Popular Music," the author breaks down house music offshoots gqom and amapiano. When Beyoncé put together her companion soundtrack album, “The Lion ...

The country has a rich, original relationship to jazz, with American techniques layered into regional traditions and rhythms. Explore 50 years of recordings picked by musicians, poets and writers. By ...

A distinct sound is currently vibing on social feeds around the world: the deep house, log-drum driven basslines and soulful piano melodies of “Amapiano.” While Amapiano dance challenges are currently ...

South African musical icon Pops Mohamed, a master multi-instrumentalist, died on 4 December 2025. His passing leaves a void ...

In much of the world, house music has already had its day — but in South Africa, it is pop music. Here's why this musical genre has remained king. If you travel to South Africa, you will hear house ...

It may have started in “The Warehouse” club, Chicago, but the center of the house music world has relocated. But not to Ibiza. Miami? Not even close. Today the biggest house market per capita anywhere ...

This piece originally appeared as part of Rolling Stone’s annual Hot List, in the July-August issue of the magazine. At Afropunk’s 2019 New Year’s Eve festival in South Africa, DJ Moma was scheduled ...