| Resistance Is Defence | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1992 | |||
| Genre | Dub poetry [1] | |||
| Label | Earthworks/Virgin [2] | |||
| Producer | Trevor Herman | |||
| Mzwakhe Mbuli chronology | ||||
| ||||
Resistance Is Defence is an album by the South African musician Mzwakhe Mbuli. [3] [4] It was released in 1992. [5] Some of its songs were banned from South African radio. [6]
Mbuli supported the album, his first to be released internationally, with a global tour. [7] [8] Mbuli's touring band was dubbed the Equals. [9]
The album was produced by Trevor Herman. [10] Its songs are about South African apartheid, township life, and hope. [9] The sound draws from kwela, township jive, and mbaqanga. [11] "Chris the Doyen", which Mbuli performed at the funeral of Chris Hani, appears on some editions of Resistance Is Defence. [12]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [13] |
| Robert Christgau | A [14] |
| The Indianapolis Star |  [15] |
| Los Angeles Daily News | [16] |
| MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide | [10] |
Robert Christgau noted that Mbuli "didn't start out as a musician—like Linton Kwesi Johnson, he's just a poet who loves music enough to do it right." [14] Spin included the album on its list of "10 Best Albums You Didn't Hear in '92", writing that "in a world of post-apartheid township jive, Mbuli stands tall ... as both an influence and an inspiration." [17] The Los Angeles Daily News deemed it "some of the most uplifting dance music on the planet." [16]
The Indianapolis Star determined that "it's Mbuli's defiant optimism that rings over the pop township jive by varying his message through questions, rational dialogue and sarcasm." [15] The St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote: "Wedded to the infectious grooves provided by the musicians, and served with a stunningly tasty set of catchy hooks, Mbuli's lyrics find him dancing on the grave of oppression, even if he's not quite convinced the corpse is in it yet." [18] The Washington Post stated: "The album's most powerful song, 'Tshipfinga', delivers this reminder in English to South Africa's younger generation of blacks: 'When you vote and get elected, think of those who died. When you govern the country, think of those who died'." [19]
AllMusic wrote that Mbuli "recites his work against a background of driving South African rhythms including kwela, mbaqanga, and sax jive." [13]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Uyeyeni" | |
| 2. | "Tshipfinga (Chipinga)" | |
| 3. | "Pitoli" | |
| 4. | "Stalwarts" | |
| 5. | "Land Deal" | |
| 6. | "Lusaka" | |
| 7. | "Emandulo" | |
| 8. | "Ndimbeleni" | |
| 9. | "Joyina" | |
| 10. | "Malambalamba" |
The South African music scene includes both popular (jive) and folk forms like Zulu isicathamiya singing and harmonic mbaqanga. Other popular genres are marabi, kwaito,house music, pop music, isicathamiya, gqom, rock music, hip hop and amapiano.
Graceland is the seventh solo studio album by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was produced by Simon, engineered by Roy Halee and released on August 25, 1986, by Warner Bros. Records. It features an eclectic mixture of genres, including pop, rock, a cappella, zydeco, isicathamiya and mbaqanga, inspired by the music of South Africa.
Mbaqanga is a style of South African music with rural Zulu roots that continues to influence musicians worldwide today. The style originated in the early 1960s, and blends traditional African vocal styles and melodies with European and American popular music.
Marabi is a style of music and dance form that evolved and emerged in South Africa between the 1890s and 1920s.
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Mzwakhe Mbuli is a South African poet, Mbaqanga singer and former Deacon at Apostolic Faith Mission Church in Naledi Soweto, South Africa. Known as "The People's Poet, Tall Man, Mbulism, The Voice Of Reason", he is the father of Mzwakhe Mbuli Junior, also known as Robot_Boii.
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The Makgona Tsohle Band was a South African instrumental band that is noted for creating the mbaqanga music style. Mbaqanga is an acculturated popular South African music that emerged in the 19th century. Mbaqanga is also referred to as township jive. The group was formed in 1964 at Mavuthela, and became the Mavuthela house band. It garnered success by backing fellow Mavuthela-Gallo stars, Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens. It is often referred to as the South African equivalent to Motown's The Funk Brothers.
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Aaron "Big Voice Jack" Lerole was a South African singer and penny whistle player. Lerole was a leading performer in the kwela music of 1950s South Africa. Lerole was the bandleader of Elias and His Zig-Zag Jive Flutes, who had an international hit record in 1958 with "Tom Hark". He co-founded the fusion band Mango Groove in 1984, and later collaborated with Dave Matthews Band, a rock band from the United States.
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Township music is any of various music genres created by Bantu peoples living in poor, racially segregated urban areas of South Africa ("townships") during the 20th century.
The Indestructible Beat of Soweto, later repackaged as The Indestructible Beat of Soweto Volume One, is a compilation album released in 1985 on the Earthworks label, featuring musicians from South Africa, including Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Mahlathini. In 2020, it was ranked number 497 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
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