Isn't it strange how two siblings can be so different? Same parents, same upbringing, same environment, two polar opposite personalities. One wears jeans and the other prefers baggies. One eats peas, the other got scurvy last year due to a Vitamin C deficiency. One of them has the Lost box set and the other, well, they are into Californication.
This phenomenon is not specific to families. We see examples of it everywhere. Authors writing books on opposing sides of the literary spectrum, television channels playing soap operas during the day and documentaries at night. Something connects them yet something separates them too.
Where am I going with this? Kwaicore of course. A musical genre forged on the sun-scorched streets. A hybrid combining all the good facets of kwaito and hardcore punk, churning out a powerhouse of unashamed passion. Music for the people by the people.
Both hardcore punk and kwaito have beginnings in social change. As the strongholds of apartheid began to fall, kwaito found its voice and in a way, it provided the soundtrack for the transformation that lay ahead. Early punk musicians were unhappy about the way things were at the time, politically and socially, so they used music to amplify their opinions. Hardcore then took this ethos and turned the traditional song structure on its head.
The two genres had a certain shock factor at the time and as the years progressed and we as a society became increasingly desensitised, it took something radical to grab our attention. With this kwaito and punk started fading into obscurity. Two genres on two very different sides of the musical smorgasbord yet rooted in very similar ideals. Each fading away yet morphing into something new.
This is about their comeback.
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