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Popular World Music Shahriari

Kwaito

Most significant among recent musical developments in South Africa is kwaito. Often naively described as South African hip-hop, kwaito incorporates many preceding music styles, including kwela and mbaqanga, as well as music from the apartheid era, such as toi-toi (a marching style used during protests), that appeal to the performer’s artistic objectives. Though American and British hip-hop and house music are the primary out- side influences, kwaito is distinctively South African and has become the musical voice of the country’s post-apartheid generation.