Music is more than a way of life

THE first time I listened to Mbaqanga music, I never took it seriously and thought it can be a genre on its own to be identified as the best that could soothe and entertain someone’s soul. The bumpy panoptic rhythm sound that most listeners could respond serious by nodding their heads and mimicking the words, was only what I thought could have caused many to lose their heads to it, not knowing that there is much into it. The way of life, which most people around my village have been crying foul to have been lost to the western lifestyle is something I took lightly as I grew up. With age catching up with me, I started paying attention to most of the music played around by the youngsters’ that has melodious rhythm but with the vulgar message. At first, I thought since I am schooled, I should listen to western music, but inward my heart reminded me of Mbaqanga , which when my father played it in his car it gradually gave me a lilting spasm. I listened to Jazz music which had permeated to my heart and especially the rhythm of the saxophone which again the Mbaqanga musicians tempered around within most of their songs. With time as I was aging, the issue of culture started building heavily inside me and I could not ignore it any further. This was worsened by the absence of my father who passed on for more than a decade and what I could recall more than anything else was the music that he was attuned to. This takes me down the memory line where I could visualize seeing him with a simpering smile listening to the Mbaqanga music. The more I listened to this type of music the more I developed acknowledgment of who I am, and how I could brand myself in the twenty-first century. The message that I could get to the music of this type buddies me to my past, my father’s way of living, and also reminding me of my Nguni language as well as the way of life. I never thought this music can be danced around like any that I have listened to before, until the time I had to buy videos for Soul Brothers from across Limpopo. I enjoyed their smart, stylish dance in response to Mbaqanga music. They picked it slowly but with talent and could show-off out of their bodies. The fact that the message of most of their words are rich and filled with proverbs and idioms, as well as innuendoes that remind me of the novels I read before, is something I could not take lightly. Now, all seem to have been lost to the Mbaqanga music as I could hardly spend a day without spoiling my ears with its rhythm. The more I play it, the more genuine and could identify who I am, apart from allowing me to show off my prowse with the gyrating of my waist which seems to have surrendered some of its vibrant to the call of nature. With charm and confidence, I can openly share with anyone prepared to listen to my wisdom that music is the food for the soul that helps one to enhance the culture and first language. It soothes one’s soul and allows him to get his or her blood circulating while reminiscing the past that shapes the future. I wonder whether I could be sure who I am without the help of the music that also fills my head with wisdom and knowledge that many lacks, albeit being schooled in their areas of expertise. I wish if I can get the collection of the old Mbaqanga music so that I feed my soul with its lyrics at the same time appreciating the talent that no longer exists as the most talented artist left with their artistic talents