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South African Popular Music
Genre: A 33 1/3 Series (Book 4)
- Author
- Lior Phillips
- Narrator
- Megan Gage
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Publish Date
- 24 April 2025
- Run Time
- 5 hours 9 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
From the storied ache of mbube harmonies of the ‘40s to the electronic boom of kwaito and the amapiano and house explosion of the ‘00s, this book explores vignettes taken from across South Africa’s popular music history. There are moments in time where music can be a mighty weapon in the fight for freedom. Disguised in a danceable hook or shouted for the world to hear, artists have used songs to deliver important truths and bring listeners together in the face of a segregated reality. In the grip of the brutal apartheid era, South Africa crafted its own idiosyncratic popular musical vernacular that operated both as sociopolitical tool and realm of escape. In a country with 11 official languages, music had the power to unite South Africans in protest. Artists bloomed a new idyll from the branches of countless storied musical traditions, and in turn found themselves banned or exiled—the profound epiphany that music can exist both within the pleasure of itself and for serving a far greater purpose.
Critics Review
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Your next great music read. . . . Phillips explores how music had the power to unite a country of 11 official languages in times of sociopolitical unrest and the brutal apartheid era.
Consequence of Sound
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A beautiful book in the 33 1/3 Genre series.
Radio New Zealand
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Lior Phillips
- Narrator
- Megan Gage
- Duration
- 5 hours 9 minutes
- Release Date
- 24 April 2025
- ISBN
- 9798765149126
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Genre
- Popular music, Music: styles and genres, Pressure groups, protest movements and non-violent action
Synopsis
Bloomsbury presents South African Popular Music by Lior Phillips, read by Megan Gage.From the storied ache of mbube harmonies of the ‘40s to the electronic boom of kwaito and the amapiano and house explosion of the ‘00s, this book explores vignettes taken from across South Africa’s popular music history. There are moments in time where music can be a mighty weapon in the fight for freedom. Disguised in a danceable hook or shouted for the world to hear, artists have used songs to deliver important truths and bring listeners together in the face of a segregated reality. In the grip of the brutal apartheid era, South Africa crafted its own idiosyncratic popular musical vernacular that operated both as sociopolitical tool and realm of escape. In a country with 11 official languages, music had the power to unite South Africans in protest. Artists bloomed a new idyll from the branches of countless storied musical traditions, and in turn found themselves banned or exiled—the profound epiphany that music can exist both within the pleasure of itself and for serving a far greater purpose.
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