The Soil brings new wave of South African acapella. Today we say Big Up to the rhythmic and perfectly harmonised, South Africa’s up-and-coming vocal trio The Soil promise to be the 21st century’s answer to their countrymen Ladysmith Black Mambazo, though none of them can read a note of music.
Running fast in the tracks of their forerunners, this next generation of township a capella bring their laid-back fusion of hip-hop, soul, jazz and afropop for the first time to the 15th Cape Town International Jazz Festival, which starts Friday.
No instruments, no music lessons, just three voices and local jazz inspiration, because that’s all these 20-somethings had during a difficult childhood in Soweto, Johannesburg’s world-famous former blacks-only suburb.
“Growing up in Soweto, you can’t just find a house with a piano, it’s very rare to find a home with a set of drums sitting there,” said Buhle Mda, 26, the group’s only woman member.
Luphindo “Master P” Ngxanga, 27, is the human beatbox, pumping out the rhythms with his mouth while playing air guitar — bass guitar, to be exact. His 25-year-old brother, Ntsika, joins Buhle on vocals to complete the trio.
Their sound is modern with traditional influences, their look cheeky and confidently urbane, reaching far beyond their native Soweto.
They write the lyrics together — “Majority rules!” said Buhle — in English and Xhosa, and tell the story of life in a country where most people are under 25 years old and many don’t have work.
They have gone a far way in a short time, received with fanfare at New York’s Apollo Theatre and last year’s Edinburgh International Festival.
But it all started 10 years ago, at their high school music group. By 2005 they started taking music more seriously and soon built up a repertoire of 10 songs. Almost a decade later they sport a double platinum album — more than 100,000 sales – hundreds of thousands of fans, and a prime spot at one of Africa’s largest jazz festivals.
A remaining dream is to perform with Joseph Shabalala, the 73-year-old founder of multi-Grammy winners Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and emulate his achievements.