Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.
  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire
“Kwaito” Music Moves South African Youth
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
06 Jul 2020
🖨️ Print Article

Margaret Kimberley · “Kwaito” Music Moves South African Youth

Xavier Livermon, professor of African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, sees “many parallels” between the US-based Hip Hop phenomenon and the Kwaito music beloved by young South Africans. LIvermon is author of the book, “Kwaito Bodies: Remastering Space and Subjectivity in Post-Apartheid South Africa.” Livermon doesn’t see Kwaito as purely commercial and self-commodification. “South African youth play with and engage the system,” he said, “but also push back against it.”

South Africa

Related Podcasts

BAR Radio Logo
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio July 17, 2026
17 July 2026
In this week’s segment, we discuss the Supreme Court ruling that ends Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian immigrants.
South Africa
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
The Anti-Immigration Movement in South Africa
17 July 2026
What is behind this South African movement that drives immigrants out of the country?
Global March to Gaza
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Nkosi Mandela on the Global March to Gaza
13 June 2025
Our guest is Nkosi Mandela. He is the tribal chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council and the grandson of Nelson Mandela.

More Stories

  • BAR Book Forum: Rima Vesely-Flad’s Book, “Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Rima Vesely-Flad’s Book, “Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition”
    06 Sep 2023
    This week’s featured author is Rima Vesely-Flad.
  • How Joe Biden and The Democratic Party’s Climate Agenda Increases Environmental Racism More Than It Reduces Emissions [A Three Part Series]
    Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    How Joe Biden and The Democratic Party’s Climate Agenda Increases Environmental Racism More Than It Reduces Emissions [A Three Part Series]
    06 Sep 2023
    The environmental benefits of Biden's Inflation Reduction Act are non-existent for Black and other marginalized communities.
  • Libya’s Attempt to Normalize Relations with the Zionist Entity is a Multilayered Treason
    Essam Elkorghli
    Libya’s Attempt to Normalize Relations with the Zionist Entity is a Multilayered Treason
    06 Sep 2023
    There are Arab governments going along with the U.S. push to normalize relations with Israel. But people throughout the region are adamantly opposed to such treachery, as the now suspended Foreign…
  • 50 Years Later, Is There Anything Left Of Hip Hop?
    Jason England
    50 Years Later, Is There Anything Left Of Hip Hop?
    06 Sep 2023
    Nothing is sacred under capitalism. Even hip hop, the genre which spoke to Black politics and culture is now just another commodity.
  • Hip Hop: A Global Lingua Franca for the Dispossessed
    Jon Jeter
    Hip Hop: A Global Lingua Franca for the Dispossessed
    06 Sep 2023
    Any celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip hop must reference its worldwide political appeal.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us