Opinion

KKNK – Local has never been so lekkker

Whatever happened to boeremusiek? Well, some of it got all funky and cool – and headed for the fees.

07 April 2003

You don`t have to be one of the 60 000 fans who bought a copy of Kurt Darran`s Meisie Meisie to know that Afrikaans music is one of the biggest growth industries in South Africa. It seems just about every dorp is hosting some or other fees where bakkies and BMWs are equally welcome and music is the key attraction – with line-ups that tend to include everyone from Mandoza to Valiant Swart.

The “alternative” Afrikaans movement has its roots in protest music and has never lost its unconventional edge, although these days adherents tend to balk at what they feel is a patronising description of the New Afrikaner. Call it what you will, that same brand of dry, acerbic social commentary that was once directed towards Afrikaner icons to such devastating effect is still there. Post-1994 the targets may have changed but the ethos remains gloriously wry and satirical. Pretension in any form, rampant materialism, denial of one`s roots, much of Melville and the whole of Cape Town regularly find themselves on the receiving end of outfits such as Brixton Moord & Roof, The Hip Replacements, Die Radiators and The Crying Shame.

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