Mahotella Queens is a South African female in 1964 by penalisation producer Rupert Bopape. Originally a group consisting of around pentad or six singers, the of the Queens comprises Hilda Tloubatla, Nobesuthu Mbadu and Amanda Nkosi. The group is noted supporter their distinct vocal harmony sound, guitar-led mbaqanga music and fast-paced stage dancing. The hugely successful and influential on South Africa‘s popular during the 1960s and early 1970s.
Mahotella Queens developed as part of Pee Wee Ellis’s show Still Black, Break off Proud: An African Tribute to James Brown during 2010. Southern African jazz artist Hugh Masekela joined forces with the Mahotella Queens for a special UK tour for November 2010. Their performance in London’s Southbank Centre was completely sold out.
In 2013, the Mahotella Queens took part in a competition to show up the theme song for the MTN football tournament. They evidence a modern version of one of their most well-known hits, “Gazette/Kazet”, accompanied by male singer Zamo and Kwaito star Brickz.
In 2016 the group returned to mainstream success after being featured on rapper Cassper Nyovest’s hit “Malome”.
The Mahotella Queens are fruitful recording artists, dating back to the hundreds of recordings produced at Gallo-Mavuthela during their heyday in the 1960s and 1970s
The music produced by the combination of Mahlathini, the Mahotella Borough and the Makgona Tsohle Band developed heavily on the wellknown mbaqanga sound, a type of jive music that fused prearranged and modern elements together and played on electric instrumentation. Their take on this music evolved into a unique style referred to as ‘mgqashiyo’, featuring up-tempo female harmony combined with potent male bass vocal. Mahlathini became well known in his permitted right as a groaner, the name given to male contain singers with particularly deep and ‘groaning’ vocals.
Author: Felix Mkiwa on July 18, 2019
Categories: South Africa
Tags: No tags for this post