Maskandi: Southern Africa’s Delta blues

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Maskandi music is unmistakable once you’ve discovered its picking bass notes, spoken word verses and unique instrument tuning. The word maskandi is reportedly derived from the Afrikaans word for musician – musikant. Musicians used the word to explain more easily to officers why they were frequenting nightclubs and other venues during segregation (see Afropop Worldwide).

Is the maskandi genre southern Africa’s answer to the Delta blues, filled with commentary and stories from the travelling musician? Although it is still unfamiliar to many, the maskandi genre has been passing on stories and particular instrument tunings for decades.

The roots of maskandi music

Maskandi has been around since the 1920s and 1930s, arising during a time when southern Africa was just as affected by the Great Depression as the rest of the world. The same era gave rise to Delta blues, with songs like “Spoonful blues”, “Love in vain” and “Cypress Grove blues”.

The National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA) interviewed maskandi musician Phuzekhemisi Myandu in 2006, asking about the genre’s roots. He explained that “musicians sing about everything and anything to promote the Zulu language and culture”. Phuzekhemisi further explained: “We sing about social issues that we observe, so that those issues get special attention from the relevant authorities or individuals. One of my CDs is titled Amakhansela (Councillors). I was referring to the poor service delivery even after people had voted.” 

Maskandi is music for commentary, satire or protest. Sometimes songs are for celebration, loss, joy or love.

Phuzekhemisi is known as the King of Maskandi. He got his name from his early employment at a furniture shop. According to the interview, drinking water was available only from the pharmacy. That was how he became known as Phuzekhemisi.

South Africa’s juke joints

For Delta blues, juke joints existed as formal or informal venues where people could gather and play music without interference. Early juke joints were smaller venues, sometimes homes – anywhere someone could bring their instruments and play a handful of songs. Not so easy for South African musicians. As mentioned earlier, the term maskandi originates from the Afrikaans, and it was used to counter the police force.

Today, maskandi has outgrown the small venues where local musicians started the genre. You will find maskandi music everywhere, blaring through portable speakers and car sound systems. Radio stations also play the latest maskandi hits, and platforms like Spotify have specific playlists for maskandi fans.

Maskandi experienced a national popularity spike in the 1960s. At this time, music was a way to voice concerns while many other platforms had been banned. Maskandi provided a platform for this. As more people made their way from one place to the next, the maskandi songs moved with them.

Delta blues evolved into Chicago blues, electrifying and spreading as musicians moved their playing techniques into the cities. Maskandi tells much of the same origin story within Africa, with music moving traditions and stories from rural areas into cities.

Finding your way around maskandi

Apple Music is a good starting point for newcomers. Their album The best maskandi hits is a great way to introduce yourself to the genre. Phuzekhemisi appears on it, as do prominent artists such as Mbuzeni and the group Shwi no Mtekhala.

Shwi no Mtekhala disbanded in 2022, but remains one of the most hailed maskandi groups since the 1990s. Their song Ngafa gets straight to the point, telling the story of a man regretfully informing his partner about a transmissible disease. The song is a cautionary tale, warning against the dangers of infidelity. Arguably, blues songs like Me and the devil blues and Death letter blues caution against the same.

Maskandi speaks to its audience through love songs, commentaries and praise songs. Sometimes songs are sarcastic or a stab at prominent figures. After all these years, Maskandi still is a unique gift granted to musicians to put their thoughts and protests into music. The Phuzekhemisi and Khethani song Imbizo was released in the 1990s. It offered critique of a possible future government. Almost immediately, the song was banned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation.

Maskandi deals with real issues and might also branch into social or political commentary, yet it has many love songs, which you can get to know on Spotify and YouTube playlists. The first important thing that you’ll learn from maskandi is that it connects people. Following the music might get you to meet a neighbour for the first time, or discover a venue down the road where you’ve never stopped over before.

Maskandi is a powerful voice. Studies have also pointed to its political power in KwaZulu-Natal. Jacob Zuma’s political campaign used maskandi very effectively. This isn’t surprising. Music has power, as we should know from Eminem’s appearance at a Harris campaign in 2024, and Barack Obama quoting from the lyrics of Eminem’s Lose yourself.

Maskandi: Letting instruments speak

It’s not just the lyrics that define what makes maskandi unique. The whole picture, and its immediate recognition as a genre, comes from its playing techniques and melodies. Maskandi music can be identified within the first few seconds, usually beginning with individual, finger-picked notes. Basslines are played alongside melodies, often by the same player, which is somewhat similar to the playing style you’ll notice with early blues players like Son House and Robert Johnson.

Maskandi also has the presence of spoken word verses, sometimes though not always introducing the performer in the first verse. Performers also occasionally time their voice in perfect pitch with the guitar – a testament to their sheer skill and knowledge of which notes are coming up next.

The genre is also recognisable via its unique tunings. Most guitar players know standard guitar tuning (that’s E-A-D-G-B-E). If you’ve been playing for a while or your music taste is specific, you’ll get to know more tunings as you play. According to Musical Instrument World, one possible maskandi tuning goes (from low to high): G-C-G-C-E-G. This isn’t always the case, though. For maskandi artists, tuning can be unique to the artist or song.

It is unlikely that a listener will be able to figure out how a maskandi artist has tuned their guitar, unless you have perfect pitch and sufficient time to figure it out. Ask and they may show you. Many artists will, however, keep their specific guitar tuning a personal secret, showing their playing techniques to only a select few other players. Like traditions and stories, maskandi playing techniques are passed on from teachers to students and from one player to the next.

See also:

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