100 Club, London
The Soweto-born rapper’s new group mixes electronic beats with echoes of Ice Cube and Kanye West in an exceptional performance
For five years, Spoek Mathambo has been a pioneer of South Africa’s ebullient electronic music scene, producing and performing a digital-meets-roots sound he calls “township tech”. Now, after two solo albums, the Soweto-born writer and rapper has a new project, a five-piece group called Fantasma, whose infectious debut album, Free Love, is out next week. UK Visas and Immigration saw to it that only three of them reached the 100 Club for this first British show, but as all good teams must when they go two men down, Mathambo’s band dig in to produce an exceptional performance.
Their matching bright red, blue and green shirts definitely help: part Kraftwerk, part Nelson Mandela at a barbecue, they seem to say not just “we’re a unit”, but also “we’re representing Africa”. “We begin with three songs of maskandi music,” says guitarist Bhekisenzo Cele, grinning and picking out the hi-tempo Zulu blues on an acoustic with a grin. “This one says every mama must respect their husband,” he translates. “And every husband must respect their mama,” adds Mathambo, ever the spokesman for the new progressive South Africa.
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by Tom Horan via Electronic music | The Guardian
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