00:00:00.289 --> 00:00:01.901
- [Neneh] Fonko.

00:00:01.901 --> 00:00:06.037
In the Manding language,
Fonko "means the thing."

00:00:06.037 --> 00:00:09.825
In Wolof, "to take care of each other."

00:00:09.825 --> 00:00:14.623
The great musical revolution
of today takes place in Africa,

00:00:14.623 --> 00:00:19.623
where urban club music is
merging with traditional styles.

00:00:19.802 --> 00:00:22.774
New technology and swift communications

00:00:22.774 --> 00:00:25.885
has released the super
talents of the continent,

00:00:25.885 --> 00:00:30.885
spreading music, arts, and
ideas to the rest of the world.

00:00:31.450 --> 00:00:36.095
But this is just one aspect
of an even bigger change.

00:00:36.095 --> 00:00:40.133
In three episodes, we will take
you from Dakar in the west,

00:00:40.133 --> 00:00:43.278
through Accra, Lagos, and Luanda,

00:00:43.278 --> 00:00:45.589
to Johannesburg in the south,

00:00:45.589 --> 00:00:49.498
to meet the most prominent and
eloquent musicians, bloggers,

00:00:49.498 --> 00:00:52.634
and business people on the continent.

00:00:52.634 --> 00:00:53.749
Fonko.

00:00:53.749 --> 00:00:55.540
(upbeat dance music)

00:00:55.540 --> 00:00:57.592
(crowd shouting)

00:00:57.592 --> 00:01:01.425
(singing and dance music)

00:01:07.005 --> 00:01:08.928
(music continues)

00:01:15.625 --> 00:01:19.591
- Everybody's taking the
template and reconfiguring it.

00:01:19.591 --> 00:01:22.774
So when people who make
music in the townships

00:01:22.774 --> 00:01:25.056
across South Africa and
across the continent,

00:01:25.056 --> 00:01:27.666
they're using computers,
they're using FruityLoops,

00:01:27.666 --> 00:01:31.046
they're using Cakewalk, like
all the kids around the world,

00:01:31.046 --> 00:01:31.937
but they corrupt it,

00:01:31.937 --> 00:01:34.656
they make it speak in
their own language.

00:01:34.656 --> 00:01:36.122
There's a lot of stuff
that's happening there

00:01:36.122 --> 00:01:40.420
that is related to design,
music, fashion,

00:01:40.420 --> 00:01:42.401
and people are beginning to
ask all kinds of new questions

00:01:42.401 --> 00:01:45.960
with a boldness that we
haven't seen on the continent

00:01:45.960 --> 00:01:46.923
for a long time.

00:01:46.923 --> 00:01:48.491
You know, we haven't
seen it certainly since

00:01:48.491 --> 00:01:51.096
the era of the '60's
liberation movements.

00:01:51.096 --> 00:01:53.679
(pulsing bass music)

00:02:04.378 --> 00:02:07.349
(pulsing dance music)

00:02:07.349 --> 00:02:10.531
- [Neneh] On a hill overlooking
Central Johannesburg

00:02:10.531 --> 00:02:13.427
stands a huge circular skyscraper.

00:02:13.427 --> 00:02:17.182
Ponte Tower is an architectural monster,

00:02:17.182 --> 00:02:21.041
a dinosaur left as an heirloom
from the apartheid regime

00:02:21.041 --> 00:02:23.062
to the New South Africa.

00:02:23.062 --> 00:02:26.422
The narrow courtyard
lingers in eternal dusk,

00:02:26.422 --> 00:02:29.066
and until recently,
the ground was covered

00:02:29.066 --> 00:02:32.654
by a layer of garbage five stories high.

00:02:32.654 --> 00:02:36.737
Then a few years ago, the
building was renovated.

00:02:38.331 --> 00:02:41.553
South Africa is an exceptional case.

00:02:41.553 --> 00:02:44.751
In no other country has
there been statutory racism

00:02:44.751 --> 00:02:48.418
as heavy-handed and as
long-lasting as here.

00:02:49.373 --> 00:02:53.028
And 20 years after the
fall of apartheid,

00:02:53.028 --> 00:02:55.361
it still shapes the country.

00:02:57.944 --> 00:02:59.833
In this episode of "Fonko,"

00:02:59.833 --> 00:03:02.606
we visit South Africa and Nigeria,

00:03:02.606 --> 00:03:05.830
two countries with a troubled
past, that have today become

00:03:05.830 --> 00:03:10.830
the economic and cultural
superpowers of the continent.

00:03:11.180 --> 00:03:12.505
One style of music

00:03:12.505 --> 00:03:15.059
that has inspired artists
all over the world

00:03:15.059 --> 00:03:16.831
is Shangaan electro.

00:03:16.831 --> 00:03:19.097
- Welcome to the world
of Shangaan electro,

00:03:19.097 --> 00:03:20.688
ladies and gentlemen!

00:03:20.688 --> 00:03:23.089
- [Neneh] Cutting edge
blend of traditional rhythms

00:03:23.089 --> 00:03:25.296
and uptempo electronica,

00:03:25.296 --> 00:03:28.487
and possibly the fastest
club music in the world,

00:03:28.487 --> 00:03:31.589
the main character of
the scene is Nozinja.

00:03:31.589 --> 00:03:34.096
He used to work as a
mobile phone repairman

00:03:34.096 --> 00:03:36.947
until he moved from his
small town to Soweto,

00:03:36.947 --> 00:03:39.537
the biggest township in South Africa.

00:03:39.537 --> 00:03:42.420
Here he started making
electronic dance music.

00:03:42.420 --> 00:03:44.584
(upbeat electro music)

00:04:17.991 --> 00:04:20.658
(uptempo Shangaan electro music)

00:05:09.010 --> 00:05:12.260
(uptempo Shangaan electro music)

00:05:54.970 --> 00:05:57.553
(uptempo music and crowd noises)

00:06:24.732 --> 00:06:25.815
(uptempo Shangaan electro music)

00:06:38.692 --> 00:06:42.327
- When you land at Cape
Town International Airport,

00:06:42.327 --> 00:06:43.772
the first thing that you see

00:06:43.772 --> 00:06:45.754
is the beauty of Table Mountain,

00:06:45.754 --> 00:06:47.348
but you've got to drive through

00:06:47.348 --> 00:06:49.265
squatter camps and shanty towns

00:06:49.265 --> 00:06:52.202
before you can even get
close to that mountain.

00:06:52.202 --> 00:06:54.428
Just in that five kilometer drive,

00:06:54.428 --> 00:06:58.511
you see everything that is
wrong with South Africa,

00:06:58.511 --> 00:07:00.941
that there's democracy
and there's freedom,

00:07:00.941 --> 00:07:04.182
but there's still a sea
of squalor and poverty.

00:07:04.182 --> 00:07:07.548
And to say to them "You have
democracy" is not enough,

00:07:07.548 --> 00:07:10.349
because they don't see it,
and this is where the situation

00:07:10.349 --> 00:07:12.136
becomes very, very difficult.

00:07:12.136 --> 00:07:14.351
(machine whirring)

00:07:14.351 --> 00:07:17.184
(energetic dance music)

00:07:21.109 --> 00:07:23.903
- [Neneh] South Africa
is an exceptional case.

00:07:23.903 --> 00:07:27.055
The white minority oppress
the African majority

00:07:27.055 --> 00:07:29.289
and the so-called Colored population,

00:07:29.289 --> 00:07:33.644
meaning people of Indian,
Asian and mixed origin.

00:07:33.644 --> 00:07:34.821
The different ethnic groups

00:07:34.821 --> 00:07:38.724
were separated by highways
and railroad tracks.

00:07:38.724 --> 00:07:42.633
Today, South Africa's
infrastructure and city planning

00:07:42.633 --> 00:07:46.308
still operate within the
racist framework of the past.

00:07:46.308 --> 00:07:49.418
(somber music)

00:07:49.418 --> 00:07:51.141
- South Africans in general

00:07:51.141 --> 00:07:53.027
are people who know how
to fight for their rights

00:07:53.027 --> 00:07:56.694
because they've had to fight
for their rights to the death,

00:07:56.694 --> 00:08:00.737
to long prison sentences, to
detention and isolation.

00:08:00.737 --> 00:08:01.759
They've done it.

00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:04.741
And it's almost like something
that I'd say is in our blood.

00:08:04.741 --> 00:08:05.760
In a way it's a good thing,

00:08:05.760 --> 00:08:08.839
because then it means that
people are always acutely aware

00:08:08.839 --> 00:08:10.679
of injustices around them.

00:08:10.679 --> 00:08:13.846
(gentle percussive music)

00:08:16.585 --> 00:08:21.085
(Crosby speaking in Xhosa)

00:09:01.907 --> 00:09:02.923
- [Reporter] That is the man

00:09:02.923 --> 00:09:04.843
that the world has
been waiting to see,

00:09:04.843 --> 00:09:09.375
in nearly three decades,
walking strongly into freedom.

00:09:09.375 --> 00:09:11.614
- [Neneh] After the fall of apartheid,

00:09:11.614 --> 00:09:14.809
South Africa's music
and culture blossomed.

00:09:14.809 --> 00:09:18.466
For the first time in decades,
Black South African musicians

00:09:18.466 --> 00:09:21.453
were able to express themselves freely.

00:09:21.453 --> 00:09:23.700
One of the most significant outcomes

00:09:23.700 --> 00:09:26.975
was the birth of the
musical genre, Kwaito,

00:09:26.975 --> 00:09:29.164
which became the first
cultural expression

00:09:29.164 --> 00:09:30.362
of the New South Africa.

00:09:32.472 --> 00:09:36.704
(singing and kwaito music)

00:09:36.704 --> 00:09:38.775
- [Neneh] The song
"Don't Call Me Kaffir,"

00:09:38.775 --> 00:09:40.903
marked the beginning of a kwaito wave

00:09:40.903 --> 00:09:43.198
that lasted for 20 years.

00:09:43.198 --> 00:09:46.895
"Kaffir" is the Afrikaans term
for "nigger."

00:09:46.895 --> 00:09:49.296
Kwaito emerged from the townships

00:09:49.296 --> 00:09:53.643
and was influenced by
hip-hop and house music.

00:09:53.643 --> 00:09:55.292
- I think rather than sort of, like,

00:09:55.292 --> 00:09:57.591
the foundation of
kwaito very much in itself

00:09:57.591 --> 00:10:00.186
was very a township sound.

00:10:00.186 --> 00:10:02.585
You know, it was defining
where we were in the townships

00:10:02.585 --> 00:10:05.435
at a particular time, 1994,
and so for the first time

00:10:05.435 --> 00:10:06.765
you really got to say
what you wanted to.

00:10:06.765 --> 00:10:08.104
I mean, and I guess, you know,

00:10:08.104 --> 00:10:09.302
everything has been written to death

00:10:09.302 --> 00:10:12.593
about "Don't Call Me Kaffir"
and all of those,

00:10:12.593 --> 00:10:14.242
the music that came out of that then,

00:10:14.242 --> 00:10:17.094
but I think there's something
new and interesting happening

00:10:17.094 --> 00:10:19.722
with artists that are, you know,
I think they've been dubbed

00:10:19.722 --> 00:10:21.949
as the so-called "Afro-futurists."

00:10:21.949 --> 00:10:22.964
You know, they're coming out with,

00:10:22.964 --> 00:10:24.897
yes, reminiscent of Kwaito and,

00:10:24.897 --> 00:10:27.630
you know, the sort of, like,
electrical movement behind,

00:10:27.630 --> 00:10:31.463
the electro movement behind
that, but at the same time,

00:10:31.463 --> 00:10:33.160
you know, there's a
New South Africa to it.

00:10:33.160 --> 00:10:35.390
You know, they're turning
things on their head,

00:10:35.390 --> 00:10:37.596
they're communicating
our culture as Africans,

00:10:37.596 --> 00:10:38.783
but at the same time

00:10:38.783 --> 00:10:41.084
finding a spot for that
in a globalized space.

00:10:41.084 --> 00:10:43.044
So you've got people like Spoek Mathambo

00:10:43.044 --> 00:10:45.346
and Dirty Paraffin coming up as well,

00:10:45.346 --> 00:10:47.971
and I think what they're
doing for us is saying,

00:10:47.971 --> 00:10:49.715
you know, we can't run
away from globalization,

00:10:49.715 --> 00:10:54.110
but what we can do is say,
"Here we are, we are Africans,

00:10:54.110 --> 00:10:56.538
and we have a very
globally relevant sound,

00:10:56.538 --> 00:10:58.522
but at the same time,
we're still distinctly African."

00:10:58.522 --> 00:10:59.770
I think that's really important.

00:11:25.916 --> 00:11:28.199
- But at the same time, when
I say I'm remaining African,

00:11:28.199 --> 00:11:31.027
who am I saying that I am
as an African?

00:11:31.027 --> 00:11:34.187
I'm not my mother's version of Africa.

00:11:34.187 --> 00:11:36.246
I'm also not a political
version of Africa,

00:11:36.246 --> 00:11:37.674
because I'm not only
a political creature,

00:11:37.674 --> 00:11:40.409
I'm a cultural creature and
I'm a sociological creature,

00:11:40.409 --> 00:11:42.856
and so who am I, in a digital age,

00:11:42.856 --> 00:11:44.038
to define myself as an African?

00:11:44.041 --> 00:11:47.069
You know, putting an African
banner on a website

00:11:47.069 --> 00:11:48.533
and a bit of patterns here and there

00:11:48.533 --> 00:11:50.060
doesn't make it African.

00:11:50.060 --> 00:11:52.809
You need to say this is
my investment in Africa,

00:11:52.809 --> 00:11:54.679
this is where I want the
continent to go,

00:11:54.679 --> 00:11:57.936
this is where I see us going,
and to commit to that.

00:11:57.936 --> 00:11:59.768
And it's gonna take some convincing,

00:11:59.768 --> 00:12:03.119
because you're automatically
on the back foot as an African.

00:12:03.119 --> 00:12:04.400
But you get in there and you say,

00:12:04.400 --> 00:12:05.872
you know, this is who we are.

00:12:05.872 --> 00:12:09.995
I will, you know, put my
cultural stamp on your website,

00:12:09.995 --> 00:12:11.157
on your Western tool,

00:12:11.157 --> 00:12:14.001
and I will use it to show
you who I am from where I am.

00:12:14.921 --> 00:12:18.754
(Brickz rapping and hip-hop beats)

00:12:27.877 --> 00:12:31.710
(rapping and hip-hop beats)

00:12:39.989 --> 00:12:44.656
(music continues)

00:14:38.233 --> 00:14:42.066
(rapping and hip-hop beats)

00:14:50.483 --> 00:14:53.503
- [Neneh] One of the main
pillars of the apartheid laws

00:14:53.503 --> 00:14:55.446
was the Group Areas Act.

00:14:55.446 --> 00:14:59.014
It dictated that the different
ethnic groups in the country

00:14:59.014 --> 00:15:01.629
were to live separately
from one another.

00:15:01.629 --> 00:15:03.975
The laws soon became more severe,

00:15:03.975 --> 00:15:06.240
and millions of Black South Africans

00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:09.747
were forced to move out to
the newly built townships.

00:15:09.747 --> 00:15:13.299
Some of these, such as
Soweto and Gugulethu,

00:15:13.299 --> 00:15:16.882
would later develop into
alternative urban centers.

00:15:16.882 --> 00:15:19.903
(rapping and hip-hop beats)

00:15:19.903 --> 00:15:22.943
- We've been cracking
software since the '90s,

00:15:22.943 --> 00:15:23.776
y'now what I mean?

00:15:23.776 --> 00:15:25.475
Like, bedroom studios have...

00:15:25.475 --> 00:15:29.114
We've managed to have
MacBooks in the township,

00:15:29.114 --> 00:15:31.033
even though we couldn't afford them.

00:15:31.033 --> 00:15:33.982
(rap music playing in background)

00:15:33.982 --> 00:15:37.583
If you bring technology to
township-based population,

00:15:37.583 --> 00:15:39.505
you're doing them a favor,
you're bringing them up.

00:15:39.505 --> 00:15:41.010
And for years, yes, it's been like that,

00:15:41.010 --> 00:15:43.687
you know, computers, cell
phones, and all of that.

00:15:43.687 --> 00:15:44.773
It is a privilege

00:15:44.773 --> 00:15:48.408
for the manufacturers
of these technologies

00:15:48.408 --> 00:15:51.365
to have the township interested
in them, you understand?

00:15:51.365 --> 00:15:54.054
In that, for instance,
here at Rebels'tone,

00:15:54.054 --> 00:15:55.545
the technology that's here

00:15:55.545 --> 00:15:59.085
is being used in a way
that nobody else can use.

00:15:59.085 --> 00:16:02.154
It's a privilege for
whichever software company

00:16:02.154 --> 00:16:04.762
is being entertained in this lab,
y'know what I mean?

00:16:14.524 --> 00:16:16.346
Gugulethu is bitter and sweet.

00:16:16.346 --> 00:16:18.371
Growing up in the
townships of South Africa,

00:16:18.371 --> 00:16:21.593
you can't escape the reality,
the life lessons, you know?

00:16:21.593 --> 00:16:23.757
Nothing comes easy, you gotta work hard.

00:16:23.757 --> 00:16:24.968
And because of the past

00:16:24.968 --> 00:16:26.833
and the discrimination
we've experienced,

00:16:26.833 --> 00:16:27.787
you start realizing

00:16:27.787 --> 00:16:30.518
how such things affect
the uprising of a people.

00:16:31.518 --> 00:16:34.184
(singing and dance beats)

00:16:40.491 --> 00:16:42.156
(music continues)

00:16:47.020 --> 00:16:49.963
- From colonization to
a system of apartheid,

00:16:49.963 --> 00:16:53.688
which is institutionalized,
legalized racism,

00:16:53.688 --> 00:16:56.953
to democracy and a constitutional state

00:16:56.953 --> 00:17:00.313
that is predicated on racial equality

00:17:00.313 --> 00:17:01.971
and freedom of expression,

00:17:01.971 --> 00:17:04.701
but you've got to first
undo so many years

00:17:04.701 --> 00:17:07.005
of a destructive history,

00:17:07.005 --> 00:17:08.825
you've gotta heal so many wounds.

00:17:08.825 --> 00:17:11.389
There's been a major
reconciliation effort.

00:17:11.389 --> 00:17:14.270
And the irony of it all is,
all of this is happening

00:17:14.270 --> 00:17:17.683
as the economy of this
country thrives and grows,

00:17:17.683 --> 00:17:19.092
and effectively South Africa

00:17:19.092 --> 00:17:23.021
is the wealthiest country
on the African continent,

00:17:23.021 --> 00:17:25.999
but still divided in so many ways.

00:17:26.002 --> 00:17:29.657
And whereas people are focused
so much on the political project,

00:17:29.657 --> 00:17:32.724
the economic project wasn't
given a lot of attention,

00:17:32.724 --> 00:17:37.723
and that's become the new area
of contestation and tension.

00:17:38.723 --> 00:17:41.733
(Hugh Masekela singing)

00:17:48.735 --> 00:17:50.198
- [Neneh] Hugh Masekela

00:17:50.198 --> 00:17:53.868
is one of free South Africa's
musical founding fathers,

00:17:53.868 --> 00:17:57.292
alongside the likes of Miriam Makeba.

00:17:57.292 --> 00:18:01.139
In 1960 he was forced to go into exile,

00:18:01.139 --> 00:18:05.222
but after the end of apartheid
he returned home.

00:18:07.804 --> 00:18:12.283
- One of the things that
people don't realize is that

00:18:12.283 --> 00:18:16.069
in South Africa we were
at war for 350 years.

00:18:16.069 --> 00:18:20.186
From 1652 when the first
Dutch settlers came,

00:18:20.186 --> 00:18:23.311
there was wars and there
was also, like, internal wars,

00:18:23.311 --> 00:18:27.588
but there were wars against the
occupiers of the country too.

00:18:27.588 --> 00:18:29.733
See, South Africa is like
many countries,

00:18:29.733 --> 00:18:32.903
nothing is done without music.

00:18:32.903 --> 00:18:37.715
It's one thing that is
not oppressable, is music.

00:18:37.715 --> 00:18:40.904
The ordinary people went
into the streets

00:18:40.904 --> 00:18:44.945
and made South Africa
ungovernable for apartheid.

00:18:44.945 --> 00:18:48.841
Those were the people, those
are the real heroes for me.

00:18:48.841 --> 00:18:51.585
When South Africa became ungovernable,

00:18:51.585 --> 00:18:54.718
it wasn't good for business.

00:18:54.718 --> 00:18:55.551
You understand?

00:18:55.551 --> 00:18:58.184
It wasn't good for business
because there was no profit.

00:18:58.184 --> 00:19:01.753
There were more profits
to be made if Africa,

00:19:01.753 --> 00:19:04.964
if South Africans, you know,
didn't make waves.

00:19:04.964 --> 00:19:08.002
So that was what was negotiated,

00:19:08.002 --> 00:19:11.558
and that was negotiated
so South Africa today,

00:19:11.558 --> 00:19:13.659
there's no oppression.

00:19:13.659 --> 00:19:16.593
The oppressed people are still exploited

00:19:16.593 --> 00:19:18.773
and they still work for cheap labor

00:19:18.773 --> 00:19:23.076
and they haven't gotten anything
from this except the vote,

00:19:23.076 --> 00:19:26.576
and maybe a little less
police harassment.

00:19:27.660 --> 00:19:29.417
But nothing has changed for them,

00:19:29.417 --> 00:19:33.108
but it has changed for
government and for business.

00:19:33.108 --> 00:19:35.298
Business is making more money now,

00:19:35.298 --> 00:19:38.632
but who has access to
that business world?

00:19:38.632 --> 00:19:40.657
It's not the ordinary person.

00:19:40.657 --> 00:19:45.233
It's the same establishment
that was there during apartheid.

00:19:45.233 --> 00:19:48.436
So it seems like things have changed,

00:19:48.436 --> 00:19:50.425
but they haven't changed for the poor,

00:19:50.425 --> 00:19:53.092
because the poor are still poor.

00:20:20.529 --> 00:20:23.083
(phone ringing)

00:20:33.865 --> 00:20:36.211
(relaxed funk music)

00:20:36.211 --> 00:20:38.393
- [Neneh] The Pan-African Space Station

00:20:38.393 --> 00:20:41.384
is a cultural center right
in the heart of Cape Town.

00:20:41.384 --> 00:20:42.646
Its purpose is to create

00:20:42.646 --> 00:20:45.506
a cultural platform on the continent.

00:20:45.506 --> 00:20:48.849
- The Pan-African Space Station,
it's a music intervention,

00:20:48.849 --> 00:20:52.228
and we started it because we
wanted to have a representation

00:20:52.228 --> 00:20:55.768
of the new cutting-edge
music that was happening

00:20:55.768 --> 00:20:58.608
in South Africa but also
around the African continent

00:20:58.608 --> 00:21:00.008
and in the diaspora.

00:21:00.008 --> 00:21:02.708
And we're interested in what
it means to be a musician,

00:21:02.708 --> 00:21:06.798
a storyteller, an African
in the 21st century,

00:21:06.798 --> 00:21:09.883
because we come with a lot of
baggage, traditional baggage.

00:21:09.883 --> 00:21:12.209
(pulsing electronic music)

00:21:32.278 --> 00:21:35.103
There's a definite movement right now

00:21:35.103 --> 00:21:37.688
that it doesn't sound like

00:21:37.688 --> 00:21:39.589
the movement of the '40s and the '50s,

00:21:39.589 --> 00:21:41.348
but the aesthetic,

00:21:41.348 --> 00:21:43.892
the kind of self-perception
and the self-regard,

00:21:43.892 --> 00:21:47.568
is very similar in terms
of the etiquette.

00:21:47.568 --> 00:21:51.008
We were talking about Shangaan
electro the other day.

00:21:51.008 --> 00:21:52.208
I love that.

00:21:52.208 --> 00:21:54.438
I grew up as a kid...

00:21:54.438 --> 00:21:56.237
(imitating Shandaan electro)

00:21:56.237 --> 00:21:57.943
That used to be regarded

00:21:57.943 --> 00:21:59.593
by people I grew up with in the township

00:21:59.593 --> 00:22:02.268
as music that was made
by uneducated people

00:22:02.268 --> 00:22:04.224
from the rural farms.

00:22:04.224 --> 00:22:06.558
Why? Because it didn't sound American.

00:22:06.558 --> 00:22:09.733
Didn't sound glamorous like the world.

00:22:09.733 --> 00:22:12.388
Now people are saying, hang on.

00:22:12.388 --> 00:22:13.988
That's really cool.

00:22:13.988 --> 00:22:16.616
Because kids in London are
listening to it, right?

00:22:16.616 --> 00:22:20.616
(uptempo Shangaan electro music)

00:22:26.097 --> 00:22:29.577
In a simplistic way, Johannesburg
makes commercial music.

00:22:29.577 --> 00:22:33.247
Cape Town makes
experimental hybrid music.

00:22:33.247 --> 00:22:34.989
The Cape Town hip-hop sees itself

00:22:34.989 --> 00:22:39.822
as the authentic, radical,
politicized, conscious hip-hop.

00:22:40.975 --> 00:22:42.905
And so Cape Town still
has this thing of,

00:22:42.905 --> 00:22:44.655
"Oh no, anything that comes from there

00:22:44.655 --> 00:22:46.894
is too commercial and too happy,"
you know?

00:22:46.894 --> 00:22:47.977
And too...bling.

00:22:48.865 --> 00:22:52.615
("Revolution ft. Ruby Gold")

00:22:59.610 --> 00:23:03.443
(singing and house music)

00:23:10.232 --> 00:23:11.570
- I mean, there really is a big issue.

00:23:11.570 --> 00:23:13.790
For example, "Teka Munike"
and "Invitation to Dance,"

00:23:13.790 --> 00:23:15.670
I'm singing about woman empowerment.

00:23:15.670 --> 00:23:17.494
But because I have this
thing about my eyes

00:23:17.494 --> 00:23:21.235
and I look all sexual,
they forget the message.

00:23:21.235 --> 00:23:22.319
They don't know what the message is,

00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:23.689
and I'm talking about
woman empowerments.

00:23:23.689 --> 00:23:25.069
I'm saying that if I wanna look good,

00:23:25.069 --> 00:23:27.139
it doesn't mean you
must touch me, you know?

00:23:27.139 --> 00:23:29.860
I'm saying that I feel like
looking like this today,

00:23:29.860 --> 00:23:31.970
it does not have anything
to do with you.

00:23:31.970 --> 00:23:33.533
It doesn't mean I need
to give you my number,

00:23:33.533 --> 00:23:35.269
it doesn't mean I needed
you to call me

00:23:35.269 --> 00:23:36.718
or touch my booty when I walk around.

00:23:36.718 --> 00:23:38.378
Like, I'm trying to talk about that,

00:23:38.378 --> 00:23:39.489
I'm trying to enforce that,

00:23:39.489 --> 00:23:44.489
but because in the video I
look too, you know, sexual,

00:23:44.532 --> 00:23:48.329
it's like taking the message that way.

00:23:48.329 --> 00:23:51.790
South Africa as a whole, my
generation don't speak like me.

00:23:51.790 --> 00:23:54.670
They are into cars,
money, drugs, and alcohol.

00:23:54.670 --> 00:23:56.628
They wanna get to the top fast.

00:23:56.628 --> 00:23:58.408
They don't care how they get there.

00:23:58.408 --> 00:24:01.918
They're more interested
in flashy clothes

00:24:01.918 --> 00:24:03.983
and being who they're not.

00:24:03.983 --> 00:24:06.110
- I supported C2,
that's like how serious I am.

00:24:06.110 --> 00:24:08.965
YFM is a station for young people.

00:24:08.965 --> 00:24:10.169
I mean, you guys saw some of the clips.

00:24:10.169 --> 00:24:12.703
Like we do a very, very silly show.

00:24:12.703 --> 00:24:14.359
We are allowed to get away
with pretty much everything

00:24:14.359 --> 00:24:15.192
over here, you know?

00:24:15.192 --> 00:24:16.665
Like, I say the word "nigger" on air

00:24:16.665 --> 00:24:18.441
and nobody calls me up about it,
you know?

00:24:18.441 --> 00:24:20.599
Kind of started off as
a pirate radio station,

00:24:20.599 --> 00:24:21.539
but it's legit, you know?

00:24:21.539 --> 00:24:23.169
Like, we've got a broadcast
license and everything.

00:24:23.169 --> 00:24:25.709
And so, I mean we got
massive studios now,

00:24:25.709 --> 00:24:27.589
like, our own building
and all that stuff,

00:24:27.589 --> 00:24:29.030
so it just proves that young people

00:24:29.030 --> 00:24:30.717
are always looking for
something to own, you know?

00:24:30.717 --> 00:24:33.349
When you speak about the
hip-hop scene in South Africa,

00:24:33.349 --> 00:24:34.494
it's probably not that huge.

00:24:34.494 --> 00:24:37.730
In fact, I'd say it's still in
its infancy stages, y'know?

00:24:37.730 --> 00:24:39.311
But having said that,

00:24:39.311 --> 00:24:41.110
a lot of guys are making
a living off hip-hop,

00:24:41.110 --> 00:24:43.500
which is good, y'know?

00:24:43.500 --> 00:24:45.083
Urban music as a whole

00:24:45.083 --> 00:24:47.862
has been existing for way
longer than hip-hop in SA.

00:24:47.862 --> 00:24:50.612
Like, for instance, we have this genre
that is pretty much South African,

00:24:50.612 --> 00:24:52.850
you couldn't find it anywhere
else, and it's called Kwaito.

00:24:52.850 --> 00:24:56.183
And it came about pretty much after 1994

00:24:57.530 --> 00:25:00.110
when the country, like,
was liberated, you know?

00:25:00.110 --> 00:25:01.850
The young Africans or South Africans

00:25:01.850 --> 00:25:03.302
decided to make their own genre of music

00:25:03.302 --> 00:25:06.172
that purely represents
what we were about

00:25:06.172 --> 00:25:07.832
in the townships and everywhere else.

00:25:09.540 --> 00:25:11.855
- [Neneh] Every Thursday
evening in Johannesburg,

00:25:11.855 --> 00:25:15.167
young rappers line up
outside the studio YFM

00:25:15.167 --> 00:25:17.009
to seize the opportunity
to be heard on the air.

00:25:26.148 --> 00:25:28.109
- [Neneh] Radio shows
serve as a springboard

00:25:28.109 --> 00:25:31.448
to many artists set on making
dreams of record deals,

00:25:31.448 --> 00:25:34.296
music videos and playlists come true.

00:25:37.028 --> 00:25:39.916
♪ If it snows in August,
I was born to win ♪

00:25:39.916 --> 00:25:42.894
♪ I got this epidemic flow,
see I was born this sick ♪

00:25:42.894 --> 00:25:45.823
♪ I'm screwing lames
overseas like a porno ship ♪

00:25:45.823 --> 00:25:47.602
♪ I'm dealing Tony's, Al Capone's ♪

00:25:47.602 --> 00:25:48.523
♪ I'm on Tennessee ♪

00:25:48.523 --> 00:25:51.342
♪ I act like a woman
but I'm thinking like a man ♪

00:25:51.342 --> 00:25:54.312
♪ I'm the only menstruater,
but I'm thinking like a man ♪

00:25:54.312 --> 00:25:55.343
♪ Major plan ♪

00:25:55.343 --> 00:25:57.634
♪ I see that you a hater turned fan ♪

00:25:57.634 --> 00:26:00.362
♪ I'm that female MC
that make a fag a jerk ♪

00:26:00.362 --> 00:26:03.132
♪ Your career so old,
white hair growin' ♪

00:26:03.132 --> 00:26:05.862
♪ Goin', goin', you's a rap clonin' ♪

00:26:05.862 --> 00:26:06.820
♪ It's a fact ♪

00:26:06.820 --> 00:26:08.296
♪ Hip-hop is barely breathing ♪

00:26:08.296 --> 00:26:09.702
♪ Everybody claim they rappin' ♪

00:26:09.702 --> 00:26:11.692
♪ But they know they're
bleating, misleading ♪

00:26:11.692 --> 00:26:13.752
♪ You wanna talk about
the way you feelin' ♪

00:26:13.752 --> 00:26:16.832
♪ How about you start and
tell them how you never be shhh ♪

00:26:16.832 --> 00:26:19.447
♪ Screw the beef, you's a
chicken if your mouth runnin' ♪

00:26:19.447 --> 00:26:22.189
♪ Pick up the mic and tell
Gigi that she ain't bussin' ♪

00:26:22.189 --> 00:26:23.110
- Yo!
- Oh!

00:26:23.110 --> 00:26:25.120
- Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo,
- Yo, now hold up.

00:26:25.120 --> 00:26:26.599
Gigi, let me tell you something.

00:26:26.601 --> 00:26:28.395
- Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo!

00:26:28.395 --> 00:26:29.804
- Let me break down to you guys

00:26:29.804 --> 00:26:30.991
how dope our girl was.

00:26:30.991 --> 00:26:33.659
Like, her beat stopped in the middle, B.

00:26:33.659 --> 00:26:35.013
She ain't even let it trip her out,

00:26:35.013 --> 00:26:36.879
she just carried on, y'know?

00:26:55.245 --> 00:26:57.503
- South African house music
scene is vibrant, dude.

00:26:57.503 --> 00:26:59.383
That's probably the most
lucrative scene right now.

00:26:59.383 --> 00:27:01.313
And also, like, the
beautiful thing about music

00:27:01.313 --> 00:27:03.013
is everybody can understand it.

00:27:03.013 --> 00:27:05.393
Like, house seldom has lyrics,
and if it does it's, like,

00:27:05.393 --> 00:27:07.793
very simple chords and choruses
or whatever.

00:27:07.793 --> 00:27:10.503
So you can play, like, a
South African track in Sweden

00:27:10.503 --> 00:27:12.309
and cats will still love it,
you know?

00:27:12.309 --> 00:27:16.476
Yeah, house I'd say right now
is the most popping scene.

00:27:17.476 --> 00:27:20.559
(rhythmic house music)

00:27:31.334 --> 00:27:35.251
(music continues)

00:28:25.869 --> 00:28:27.871
(rhythmic house music beats)

00:28:44.310 --> 00:28:47.393
(music continues)

00:29:21.904 --> 00:29:25.180
(rhythmic house music)

00:29:27.807 --> 00:29:30.591
- [Neneh] South African house
DJs are touring the world

00:29:30.591 --> 00:29:34.718
and sell out stadiums, and none
is bigger than Black Coffee.

00:29:34.718 --> 00:29:37.801
(rhythmic house music)

00:29:59.447 --> 00:30:02.527
- Well, at the moment,
South African house music

00:30:02.527 --> 00:30:05.302
is the most popular
house music in the world.

00:30:05.302 --> 00:30:08.344
You know, I don't live in
the world of categories.

00:30:08.344 --> 00:30:11.294
If I like something, I go with it.

00:30:11.294 --> 00:30:14.973
I loved what Black Coffee
did with "Stimela,"

00:30:14.973 --> 00:30:17.197
you know, which made him known.

00:30:17.197 --> 00:30:20.634
And when he asked me to do "We Are One,"

00:30:20.634 --> 00:30:22.764
I liked it because I liked the grooves

00:30:22.764 --> 00:30:24.189
and I could play on it.

00:30:24.989 --> 00:30:27.940
(rhythmic house music)

00:30:34.220 --> 00:30:37.233
You never heard Louis
Armstrong saying he plays jazz

00:30:37.233 --> 00:30:39.288
or Miles Davis say he plays jazz.

00:30:39.288 --> 00:30:41.130
They always called it music.

00:30:41.130 --> 00:30:42.713
But we love music.

00:30:43.704 --> 00:30:45.090
Some, I don't know

00:30:45.090 --> 00:30:48.007
how people get that
popular doing what they do,

00:30:48.007 --> 00:30:50.307
but who am I, you know?

00:30:50.307 --> 00:30:52.867
I mean, there's some people
who, like, make millions,

00:30:52.867 --> 00:30:54.367
and I'm going, how?

00:30:55.266 --> 00:30:57.401
(rhythmic house music)

00:31:27.681 --> 00:31:30.029
- [Announcer] Nigeria, make some noise!

00:31:30.029 --> 00:31:31.121
(upbeat electronic music)

00:31:31.121 --> 00:31:33.348
- [Commenter] The eyes of the
world are on Africa tonight.

00:31:40.624 --> 00:31:42.783
- Africa forever!

00:31:42.783 --> 00:31:46.832
- This is 2baba, 2Face, at
a very historical moment

00:31:46.832 --> 00:31:48.980
when he won the first EMA.

00:31:48.980 --> 00:31:51.796
'Cause at first, when we were
trying to get the African artists

00:31:51.796 --> 00:31:53.371
onto a global scene, like,

00:31:53.371 --> 00:31:56.075
MTV were down for us
to have an African act

00:31:56.075 --> 00:31:58.221
at the European Music Awards,
at the EMA.

00:31:58.221 --> 00:32:00.637
So this was 2Face winning in 2005,

00:32:00.637 --> 00:32:02.971
the first one we ever did.

00:32:02.971 --> 00:32:05.729
In the continent, the whole
sort of record industry

00:32:05.729 --> 00:32:07.936
is so different than
anywhere else in the world.

00:32:07.936 --> 00:32:09.404
A lot of the, I mean,
it's only in South Africa

00:32:09.404 --> 00:32:11.695
where there are majors,
you know, major labels.

00:32:11.695 --> 00:32:15.251
Anywhere north of South
Africa, they've tried and left.

00:32:15.251 --> 00:32:16.371
I mean, they came in the '80s,

00:32:16.371 --> 00:32:17.890
and a lot of the big guys
were here and they bounced,

00:32:17.890 --> 00:32:20.370
'cause they couldn't work out
how this environment works

00:32:20.370 --> 00:32:21.441
and it's too hectic for them.

00:32:21.441 --> 00:32:24.342
There's piracy and there's
hustle and, you know.

00:32:24.342 --> 00:32:26.461
But the way it's evolved naturally

00:32:26.461 --> 00:32:30.161
shows that there's such
a strong business acumen

00:32:30.161 --> 00:32:32.481
and there's so many
people who understand that

00:32:32.481 --> 00:32:34.511
and how to capitalize and how to market

00:32:34.511 --> 00:32:35.922
and how to control it and keep it

00:32:35.922 --> 00:32:36.966
and not let someone else exploit it.

00:32:36.966 --> 00:32:39.763
♪ And if you're going in,
put your hands in the air ♪

00:32:39.763 --> 00:32:42.370
♪ Make 'em stay there ♪

00:32:42.370 --> 00:32:44.550
- I was with P-Square
recently in Nigeria,

00:32:44.550 --> 00:32:48.651
and a pirate bought them Mercedes Benzs,

00:32:48.651 --> 00:32:51.010
like, as a thank you, like,
matching E-Classes for them.

00:32:51.010 --> 00:32:52.111
You know, just as a thank you,

00:32:52.111 --> 00:32:54.999
because at first artists were
trying to fight the pirates

00:32:54.999 --> 00:32:56.869
and it was like,
you can't win that battle.

00:32:56.869 --> 00:32:58.110
The pirates have got it locked.

00:32:58.110 --> 00:33:00.362
I mean, they can distribute
200 million copies

00:33:00.362 --> 00:33:02.893
in the space of a day or two,
they've got a whole network.

00:33:02.893 --> 00:33:04.870
And at first, guys were
trying to fight that,

00:33:04.870 --> 00:33:05.889
and then kind of realized,

00:33:05.889 --> 00:33:07.850
"But, we don't have
official distribution."

00:33:07.850 --> 00:33:08.867
That's more effective

00:33:08.867 --> 00:33:10.750
than any official
distribution in the world,

00:33:10.750 --> 00:33:12.480
how quickly guys can get it out,

00:33:12.480 --> 00:33:14.040
so they started working with the pirates

00:33:14.040 --> 00:33:15.331
and kind of doing deals with them, like,

00:33:15.331 --> 00:33:17.199
"I'll give you the exclusive first

00:33:17.199 --> 00:33:18.860
if you share the profit with me,"
dah, dah, dah.

00:33:18.860 --> 00:33:21.735
And so the whole business
model is just different here,

00:33:21.735 --> 00:33:24.300
and it evolves naturally.

00:33:24.300 --> 00:33:27.436
(cars whooshing)

00:33:27.436 --> 00:33:30.103
(gate creaking)

00:33:36.039 --> 00:33:38.603
(car horn beeping)

00:33:46.818 --> 00:33:49.138
(pulsing dance beats)

00:33:49.138 --> 00:33:51.973
♪ You said you'd be there for me ♪

00:33:51.973 --> 00:33:56.053
♪ In times of trouble when
I need you when I'm down ♪

00:33:56.053 --> 00:33:58.448
♪ And likewise you need friendship ♪

00:33:58.448 --> 00:33:59.656
♪ It's from my side pure love ♪

00:33:59.656 --> 00:34:02.795
♪ But I see lately things
have been changin' ♪

00:34:02.795 --> 00:34:05.085
♪ You have goals to achieve ♪

00:34:05.085 --> 00:34:07.745
♪ But the roads you take
are broad and heartless ♪

00:34:07.745 --> 00:34:09.714
♪ The wounds you make,
you're not aware ♪

00:34:09.714 --> 00:34:10.795
♪ You throw stones ♪

00:34:30.190 --> 00:34:32.940
♪ Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,
heart is beating ♪

00:34:32.940 --> 00:34:36.243
♪ Can, can, you, you,
see, see, see ♪

00:34:36.243 --> 00:34:39.829
♪ The pai, ai, ai, ai,
ain you're causing ♪

00:34:39.829 --> 00:34:41.786
♪ Blood, blood, blood, blood, blood, ♪

00:34:41.786 --> 00:34:44.218
♪ Blood, blood, blood,
blood, blood, blood ♪

00:35:21.863 --> 00:35:25.869
♪ As I wonder children dark as ♪

00:35:25.869 --> 00:35:29.856
♪ Dark dark dark dark ♪

00:35:29.856 --> 00:35:32.143
♪ I don't know what ♪

00:35:32.143 --> 00:35:34.852
♪ Tomorrow will bring ♪

00:36:00.147 --> 00:36:02.739
♪ There ain't no party
like a Lagos party ♪

00:36:02.739 --> 00:36:05.889
♪ 'Cause a Lagos party,
we don't bother nobody ♪

00:36:05.889 --> 00:36:07.604
♪ We just throw our hands up ♪

00:36:07.604 --> 00:36:09.113
♪ Drinks in our cups ♪

00:36:09.113 --> 00:36:12.330
♪ Lagos stand up 'cause
we don't give a aayyy ♪

00:36:12.330 --> 00:36:14.813
♪ Ain't no party like a Lagos party ♪

00:36:14.813 --> 00:36:17.792
♪ 'Cause when Lagos party
we don't bother nobody ♪

00:36:17.792 --> 00:36:19.568
♪ We just throw our hands up ♪

00:36:19.568 --> 00:36:23.484
- [Neneh] Nigeria is the most
populous country in Africa,

00:36:23.484 --> 00:36:25.872
and recently it passed South Africa

00:36:25.872 --> 00:36:28.872
as the largest economy on the continent.

00:36:28.872 --> 00:36:32.854
But Nigeria is also a country
of extreme income gaps,

00:36:32.854 --> 00:36:37.854
deeply-rooted corruption,
and violent religious conflicts.

00:36:38.175 --> 00:36:40.602
On Victoria Island in Lagos

00:36:40.602 --> 00:36:43.465
lies the high-end Oriental Hotel.

00:36:43.465 --> 00:36:46.097
Every week, Nigeria's music industry

00:36:46.097 --> 00:36:48.393
gathers here for industry night.

00:36:48.393 --> 00:36:52.071
It's a perfect venue for
upcoming talents to be seen

00:36:52.071 --> 00:36:55.254
and rub shoulders with the
elite of the music industry.

00:36:55.254 --> 00:36:58.087
(record scratching)

00:37:01.037 --> 00:37:05.378
Oil is by far the biggest
economic sector in Nigeria,

00:37:05.378 --> 00:37:09.072
but number two is the booming
film and music industry.

00:37:09.072 --> 00:37:12.302
Genres such as Niger Pop
and Niger Swag

00:37:12.302 --> 00:37:14.934
have been dominating
the scene for years.

00:37:14.934 --> 00:37:17.715
Once the music gained popularity abroad,

00:37:17.715 --> 00:37:20.552
it was given a new name: Afrobeats,

00:37:20.552 --> 00:37:24.432
a common name for all urban
pop music from Nigeria.

00:37:24.432 --> 00:37:26.372
(upbeat afrobeat music)

00:37:26.372 --> 00:37:27.632
♪ Starboy Tim ♪

00:37:27.632 --> 00:37:28.831
♪ Yeah ♪

00:37:28.831 --> 00:37:29.664
- [Neneh] Dammy Krane

00:37:29.664 --> 00:37:33.143
incarnates the recent
boom of Nigerian music.

00:37:33.143 --> 00:37:35.841
At a very young age,
Krane has already worked

00:37:35.841 --> 00:37:37.909
with many of the top Niger artists.

00:37:38.109 --> 00:37:41.441
(autotuned singing and afrobeat music)

00:38:23.259 --> 00:38:24.092
- [Neneh] Dammy Krane,

00:38:24.092 --> 00:38:27.664
is often compared with
Nigerian superstar 2Face,

00:38:27.664 --> 00:38:30.514
who signed the young
talent to his record label.

00:38:30.514 --> 00:38:33.097
(rhythmic house music)

00:38:51.399 --> 00:38:55.232
(autotuned singing and afropop music)

00:39:01.121 --> 00:39:02.855
(music continues)

00:39:45.292 --> 00:39:46.200
(singing and afrobeat music)

00:40:20.768 --> 00:40:23.113
- Before, if you ever said that
you're gonna be a musician,

00:40:23.113 --> 00:40:26.024
I mean like, this is
Africa, this is, you know,

00:40:26.024 --> 00:40:27.963
I mean, your parents will
tell you that you're crazy.

00:40:27.963 --> 00:40:29.478
You know, "You're gonna go
be an engineer."

00:40:29.478 --> 00:40:30.888
You know, there's so many artists,

00:40:30.888 --> 00:40:33.173
if you ask most artists
what their first degree,

00:40:33.173 --> 00:40:34.006
and this is the best thing.

00:40:34.006 --> 00:40:35.688
You ask them, "What was
your first degree in?"

00:40:35.688 --> 00:40:38.193
'Cause one, quite few of
them will have two degrees,

00:40:38.193 --> 00:40:39.173
and then their first degree

00:40:39.173 --> 00:40:42.098
will be something like
biochemistry or, you know,

00:40:42.098 --> 00:40:44.723
microbiotics mixed with
DNA splicing or something.

00:40:44.723 --> 00:40:46.464
It's like, but dude, you make beats now.

00:40:46.464 --> 00:40:48.077
Like, how did you end up doing that?

00:40:48.077 --> 00:40:51.077
So our generation, which isn't, like...

00:40:52.253 --> 00:40:53.262
We're one generation away

00:40:53.262 --> 00:40:55.182
from the people who
fought for independence,

00:40:55.182 --> 00:40:56.793
so we're really young,
you know what I mean?

00:40:56.793 --> 00:40:59.083
So our generation, like,
the second set,

00:40:59.083 --> 00:41:02.955
we had a lot of pressure on
what you're supposed to be,

00:41:02.955 --> 00:41:06.393
and all of a sudden we
found a way to do exactly,

00:41:06.393 --> 00:41:08.227
to have the same acclaim and success

00:41:08.227 --> 00:41:11.443
that parents would think is important,

00:41:11.443 --> 00:41:12.937
but via entertainment.

00:41:12.937 --> 00:41:16.096
(MC shouting and dance beats)

00:41:17.296 --> 00:41:18.953
- [Neneh] For most of its history,

00:41:18.953 --> 00:41:22.685
Nigeria has been ruled
by military governments.

00:41:22.685 --> 00:41:27.213
Since 1999 the country
is formally a democracy,

00:41:27.213 --> 00:41:30.134
but in Lagos the police
are still asking for bribes

00:41:30.134 --> 00:41:32.093
at numerous roadblocks.

00:41:32.093 --> 00:41:34.273
An experienced driver only stops

00:41:34.273 --> 00:41:36.453
if there's a gun pointing at the car.

00:41:36.453 --> 00:41:38.746
Stop signs are ignored.

00:41:38.746 --> 00:41:40.247
And even though oil money

00:41:40.247 --> 00:41:42.888
has flooded the country since the '70s,

00:41:42.888 --> 00:41:46.082
Lagos' estimated 20 million inhabitants

00:41:46.082 --> 00:41:50.016
still lack sanitation
and reliable electricity.

00:41:50.016 --> 00:41:52.422
Water has to be brought in by tankers,

00:41:52.422 --> 00:41:54.201
and anyone who can afford it

00:41:54.201 --> 00:41:57.552
has a diesel generator
in their courtyard.

00:42:31.649 --> 00:42:35.232
(Fela singing and afrobeat music)

00:42:46.052 --> 00:42:48.391
- [Neneh] Very few artists
in the history of music

00:42:48.391 --> 00:42:51.492
have created a genre all by themselves.

00:42:51.492 --> 00:42:55.322
Fela Kuti, the creator of afrobeat,
is one of them.

00:42:55.322 --> 00:42:58.339
He's also one of the most
hardcore protest musicians

00:42:58.339 --> 00:43:01.202
of all time, who single-handedly

00:43:01.202 --> 00:43:04.613
tried to take on the
Nigerian military government.

00:44:03.058 --> 00:44:04.480
- This is the New Afrika Shrine,

00:44:04.480 --> 00:44:07.350
and it was built in honor of my father

00:44:07.350 --> 00:44:09.369
and great people like Kwame Nkrumah,

00:44:09.369 --> 00:44:12.300
Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Lumumba,

00:44:12.300 --> 00:44:14.633
Martin Luther King, Sankara,

00:44:18.279 --> 00:44:21.832
and many of our ancestors we
don't even know their name,

00:44:21.832 --> 00:44:23.612
both male and female.

00:44:23.612 --> 00:44:25.612
So it's a spiritual place.

00:44:25.612 --> 00:44:30.362
It's a place where we worship
our ancestors through music

00:44:31.652 --> 00:44:34.735
by speaking the truth and remembering...

00:44:37.650 --> 00:44:39.185
...our history.

00:44:39.185 --> 00:44:43.018
(Fela singing and afrobeat music)

00:44:48.541 --> 00:44:51.568
- [Neneh] When Fela Kuti
fused jazz, funk,

00:44:51.568 --> 00:44:54.437
Ghanaian highlife, and Nigerian juju,

00:44:54.437 --> 00:44:57.588
he changed African popular
music forever.

00:44:57.588 --> 00:45:00.218
His afrobeat had an enormous impact

00:45:00.218 --> 00:45:04.173
and is still shaping the
musical development in Africa.

00:45:04.173 --> 00:45:06.028
Musicians from all over the world

00:45:06.028 --> 00:45:08.978
traveled to visit Fela
at his club, The Shrine,

00:45:08.978 --> 00:45:12.818
Paul McCartney, Peter
Tosh, and Bootsy Collins.

00:45:21.997 --> 00:45:24.580
(upbeat afrobeat music)

00:45:27.717 --> 00:45:30.384
(Femi laughing)

00:45:38.654 --> 00:45:42.541
Even now, if I look back, I'll say, wow.

00:45:42.541 --> 00:45:45.145
It was really a fearful time.

00:45:48.502 --> 00:45:50.432
- [Neneh] Through most
of Fela Kuti's life,

00:45:50.432 --> 00:45:53.332
Nigeria was a military dictatorship.

00:45:53.332 --> 00:45:55.612
Fela was constantly beaten and jailed

00:45:55.612 --> 00:45:57.632
for his political views.

00:45:57.632 --> 00:45:59.941
During brief periods of democracy,

00:45:59.941 --> 00:46:03.315
he tried to run for president,
but was denied.

00:46:03.315 --> 00:46:06.942
He also declared his own
home an independent state,

00:46:06.942 --> 00:46:09.281
the Kalakuta Republic.

00:46:09.281 --> 00:46:13.120
In 1977, he released the album "Zombie,"

00:46:13.120 --> 00:46:14.902
the title being a metaphor

00:46:14.902 --> 00:46:17.602
for soldiers blindly following orders

00:46:17.602 --> 00:46:19.545
from the military government.

00:46:19.545 --> 00:46:21.546
It was a huge hit.

00:46:21.546 --> 00:46:24.963
(upbeat afrobeat music)

00:46:27.942 --> 00:46:30.634
The army responded hard to the slur,

00:46:30.634 --> 00:46:34.102
attacking Kalakuta and
burning it to the ground.

00:46:34.102 --> 00:46:37.143
Large amounts of
recordings were destroyed.

00:46:37.143 --> 00:46:39.302
Fela Kuti was badly beaten

00:46:39.302 --> 00:46:42.600
and his mother was thrown
out of a second floor window.

00:46:42.600 --> 00:46:44.848
She later died of her injuries.

00:46:44.848 --> 00:46:47.474
Soon afterwards, he organized a march

00:46:47.474 --> 00:46:51.026
to deliver his mother's coffin
to the army headquarters.

00:47:02.464 --> 00:47:04.892
- He never chickened out,
he never ran away.

00:47:04.892 --> 00:47:05.950
He got beaten,

00:47:05.950 --> 00:47:09.502
practically all his bones
in his body were broken.

00:47:14.056 --> 00:47:15.189
♪ Waka waka waka ♪

00:47:15.189 --> 00:47:16.746
♪ With him big fat stomach ♪

00:47:16.746 --> 00:47:17.786
♪ Waka waka waka ♪

00:47:17.786 --> 00:47:19.517
♪ Yar'Adua dey there ♪

00:47:19.517 --> 00:47:20.537
♪ Waka waka waka ♪

00:48:09.255 --> 00:48:11.657
(singing and afrobeat music)

00:48:25.096 --> 00:48:26.491
- You know, even though
if it's impossible,

00:48:26.491 --> 00:48:28.061
you know, I accept who I am, you know?

00:48:28.061 --> 00:48:31.995
As soon as people say my name,
they think about my father.

00:48:31.995 --> 00:48:33.364
For me, Afrobeat was created

00:48:33.364 --> 00:48:35.339
for the emancipation
of the Black continent.

00:48:35.339 --> 00:48:37.989
It's important that we make music

00:48:37.989 --> 00:48:40.364
that matters to our
people's lives, you know?

00:48:40.364 --> 00:48:43.751
And how it affects them on a daily basis.

00:48:43.751 --> 00:48:46.558
I think art in general,
not just music in Africa,

00:48:46.558 --> 00:48:49.113
should represent the
majority of the people

00:48:49.113 --> 00:48:50.909
and what we go through, you know?

00:49:04.036 --> 00:49:06.261
You know, we allow a lot of foreign,

00:49:06.261 --> 00:49:07.702
so-called foreign investors,

00:49:07.702 --> 00:49:09.442
to come and pollute our land, you know?

00:49:09.442 --> 00:49:10.942
They are not from here.

00:49:10.942 --> 00:49:12.792
They'll do what they have to
do and they'll leave, you know?

00:49:12.792 --> 00:49:14.301
We have to, our future generation,

00:49:14.301 --> 00:49:16.423
has to live with our environment,

00:49:16.423 --> 00:49:17.001
which is so...

00:49:17.009 --> 00:49:21.067
Fuck, we're stuck
in this fucking traffic now.

00:49:21.067 --> 00:49:21.900
Damn.

00:49:21.900 --> 00:49:22.912
The good things are changing, like,

00:49:22.912 --> 00:49:24.400
changing for the rich people

00:49:24.400 --> 00:49:28.130
and, you know, the poor people,
you know, things get worse.

00:49:28.130 --> 00:49:31.297
The gap is growing wider every minute.

00:49:32.184 --> 00:49:33.830
You know, right now they
believe in the theory

00:49:33.830 --> 00:49:35.858
of building Nigeria from
the top down, you know?

00:49:35.858 --> 00:49:37.374
But that can't work.

00:49:43.817 --> 00:49:46.692
Republican ideology, you
know, in Africa by force,

00:49:46.692 --> 00:49:49.486
you know, give to the rich, you know,

00:49:49.486 --> 00:49:52.627
and what they shit the
poor can eat, you know?

00:49:52.627 --> 00:49:55.526
So that's what it is, you know.

00:49:57.308 --> 00:50:02.308
♪ All I'm left with is to trust indeed ♪

00:50:02.420 --> 00:50:05.091
♪ Oh Lord ♪

00:50:05.091 --> 00:50:10.091
♪ For mankind has all
deserted at me now ♪

00:50:10.376 --> 00:50:12.526
♪ Oh no ♪

00:50:12.526 --> 00:50:16.313
- So even though I'd
say we're in a crisis,

00:50:16.313 --> 00:50:19.671
we're in an incredibly open moment

00:50:19.671 --> 00:50:21.771
because the reason we're in crisis

00:50:21.771 --> 00:50:23.874
is because people are gonna stand up

00:50:23.874 --> 00:50:27.161
for what is their right, right?

00:50:27.161 --> 00:50:30.029
People haven't done that in so long.

00:50:30.029 --> 00:50:32.511
They've become unused to that.

00:50:32.511 --> 00:50:33.761
But for the first time in a long time,

00:50:33.761 --> 00:50:37.132
people are gonna say,
"Actually I know what I'm worth

00:50:37.132 --> 00:50:39.671
and this is how I want to be treated."

00:50:39.671 --> 00:50:42.251
That causes crisis because
the authority figure

00:50:42.251 --> 00:50:45.526
isn't used to that anymore,
but it'll balance things out.

00:50:45.526 --> 00:50:48.109
(tinny funk music)

00:50:52.704 --> 00:50:55.741
- I grew up at a time in a country

00:50:55.741 --> 00:50:58.658
where being Black and being a woman

00:51:00.171 --> 00:51:03.751
meant that all sorts of
opportunities would be closed to me.

00:51:03.751 --> 00:51:07.381
I'm living in a country where
being Black and being a woman

00:51:07.381 --> 00:51:11.641
means that all doors of
opportunity are open to me.

00:51:11.641 --> 00:51:13.417
So in a matter of 20 years,

00:51:13.417 --> 00:51:16.181
a lot of things has
happened in my lifetime.

00:51:16.181 --> 00:51:18.642
When I travel to countries like Nigeria

00:51:18.642 --> 00:51:21.194
and I see young Africans coming back

00:51:21.194 --> 00:51:24.457
determined to start
private equity companies

00:51:24.457 --> 00:51:28.874
and music studios and film
schools and fashion houses

00:51:30.491 --> 00:51:32.092
because they realize

00:51:32.092 --> 00:51:35.197
that they've got to be the
change that they want to see,

00:51:35.197 --> 00:51:36.751
and they can't wait for the politicians

00:51:36.751 --> 00:51:39.442
to legislate that change in government.

00:51:39.442 --> 00:51:41.975
They're just going to do
it from the grassroots up.

00:51:41.975 --> 00:51:43.896
So there's definitely

00:51:43.896 --> 00:51:47.492
a sea change in the mindset of Africans,

00:51:47.492 --> 00:51:50.545
definitely a younger generation.

00:51:50.545 --> 00:51:53.310
They see infinite possibilities

00:51:53.310 --> 00:51:58.147
and they want to control the
resources of wealth and power.

00:51:59.147 --> 00:52:02.395
(uptempo Shangaan electro)

00:52:35.704 --> 00:52:37.593
(uptempo Shangaan electro)

00:52:37.593 --> 00:52:40.213
♪ What can I do my baby ♪

00:52:40.213 --> 00:52:42.884
♪ I wanna make you mine ♪

00:52:42.884 --> 00:52:45.644
♪ What can I do my baby ♪

00:52:45.644 --> 00:52:48.501
♪ I wanna make you mine ♪

00:52:48.501 --> 00:52:49.546
♪ Nwa gezani, my baby ♪