Kwaito Radio Stations in South Africa
- Kwaito music evolved in the changing South African political culture of the 1990s.South Africa image by bluefern from Fotolia.com
Kwaito is the music of the South African townships: poor neighborhoods where residents often live in shacks. A mix of the electronic music known as "house" with local African rhythms, Kwaito's lyrics are about life on the streets; in fact, the BBC World Service quoted Esmile---one of Kwaito's biggest stars---as saying that Kwaito was "about ghetto life." Several radio stations in South Africa play Kwaito music. - 99.2 YFM is a radio station but it is also a branch of Y, a brand representing contemporary urban South Africa. The radio station refers to itself as a lifestyle and a culture in and of itself. YFM sees as its target audience affluent young people, or young people aspiring to affluence, who work to improve their own lives and communities. The station plays Kwaito music, along with R&B, House, and hip hop about 75 percent of the time; the other 25 percent is dedicated to talk radio. Personalities at YFM come from all branches of South Africa's entertainment industry in order to reach as many of the country's youth as possible. As of June, 2009, YFM registered 1.4 million listeners.
YFM
Albury Road Dunkeld Crescent
South West Blocks
Dunkeld West
Ext 8
Sandton
South Africa
2196
011-27-772-0800
yfm.co.za - 96.4 Metro FM, an English-language radio station, also plays Kwaito music. The station's target audience is black youth from the age of 25 to 34 years; it describes itself as "trendy, innovative, progressive and aspirational." Aside from Kwaito, Metro FM plays a lot of international music such as hip hop and R&B. Representatives of Metro FM participate in projects in their communities; some of these projects include a seminar on money called the Money Club Seminar, a home-building project called Jet Builds Homes, and an environmental project called the Metro FM Green Revolution.
Metro FM
South Africa
011-27-011-714-2658.
metrofm.co.za - 5FM is another South African radio station that plays Kwaito music. Broadcasting in English, 5FM aims to reach South Africa's urban youth by playing many contemporary international and South African hits. Among the events hosted by 5FM are the Fireman's Ball, a gay pride co-hosted with website Gaydar.co.za, a 30 Seconds to Mars event by the band of the same name, and a Rock the Boat cruise from Durban to Mozambique and back. The 5FM blog informs readers and listeners about t-shirt competitions, new music on the radio station, news and reviews of music software such as iTunes, and general entertainment news, such as the winners of the 2010 Emmy Awards.
5FM
P.O. Box 91555
Auckland Park
2006
South Africa
011-27-089-110-0505
5fm.co.za
