DJ Mujava - Township Funk
With its infectious groove, it's easy to see why Radio 1's Zane Lowe has included it regularly on his show's playlist.
It's taken a while to catch on fire, but is refreshing that South African DJ Mujava, who, with his two year old single 'Township Funk' finally finding release in the UK, has created a song that sounds like what you'd expect from the name - native roots danceability mixed with processed beats trickery.
There has been a recent revival of interest in African influenced music, mostly down to New York prepsters Vampire Weekend, and their self-labelled brand of 'Upper West Side Soweto'. But whereas they represent the happy, Disneyfied take on the style with their preppie Afro-pop, Mujava instead reveals the dark side of the Dark Continent.
With its infectious groove, it's easy to see why Radio 1's Zane Lowe has included it regularly on his show's playlist. Hailing from a tradition known as 'kwaito' - slowed-down house music containing melodic and percussive looped African samples, associated with the black youth of post-Apartheid South Africa - 'Township Funk' is surprisingly minimalist. Even more surprising, is that such a solemn sounding track has the ability to make you want to get up and dance. Drum beats that are half tribal and half martial, subtle invasions of synth that provide simmering, low-key menace, and a repeating (yet not repetitive) sample composed of melancholy electronic beeps and whistles - kind of like a depressed R2D2 - are all there is to it, and prove highly effective. No vocals, but then there is the suspicion that any singing would prove superfluous and it's pretty darn good as it is.
Subscribe to the Clickmusic News Feed
