Nozinja, an African musician who nearly single-handedly pioneered the speedily simmering genre shangaan electro, has released “Nwa Baloyi” off his debut album, Nozinja Lodge, out June 2 via Warp Records. Shangaan electro first burned the ears off a wider audience around the time of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, which is also when Nozinja released New Wave Dance Music from South Africa. When that record came out, NPR pointed out a handy comparison for just how fast it is: The sporting event’s official song, Shakira’s “Waka Waka,” bumped along at 127 BPM, while shangaan’s typical tempo smokes at 180 BPM.
Shangaan electro emerged from Johannesburg’s townships and genres that laid its bedrock, such as tsonga-traditional in the ’50s and kwaito house 40-odd years later. Listen to “Nwa Baloyi” below, and take a deeper dive on Nozinja’s Soundcloud, where he’s posted additional tracks from Nozinja Lodge.
