Looking Ahead: Kwaito’s Legacy Lives On

Freedom means different things for different people throughout space and time. For the generation that lived through apartheid, freedom was a political struggle that required overcoming the oppressive regime. For the Kwaito generation of the 1990s and early 2000s, freedom meant having the ability to freely express and explore their identities outside of the apartheid regime. For the current generation, freedom means making space for and centering the experiences of the most marginalized and vulnerable communities.

Through an experimentation with sounds, visuals, dress, and narratives, artists like MX Blouse and FAKA channel the energy of early Kwaito musicians, as they demand a space for their queer bodies to exist. At the same time, their music challenges the heteronormative representations typically expressed in the genre of Kwaito. Although their music has sonically evolved, the spirit and culture of Kwaito lives on and is reimagined through the performances of Black queer South African artists.