AfriPOP! Magazine
Standing by the
entrance of the African Music Store on Long Street,Cape Town's
celebrated bustling row of bars,eateries,bookstores and everything
else bohemian under the African sun,i see a web of fascinating
contrasts. The store is owned by an unlikely bunch given Cape Town's
racially divided history – a trio of white African music lovers. It
is also interesting to note that the music store is housed in an old
Victorian building which used to be the residence of one of the
Cape's 18th century slave masters.
I am
waiting for Mark,one of the owners of the store who acts as the
manager too. As I wait I read a magazine cut-out on the store's
window. It is a cut-out of the top-ten list of the ten must-visit
vynil record stores from around the world. At number 8 is the African
Music Store,and it reads: “For one-oneupmanship on other vynil
heads,dodge the car-jackers and make your way to the African Music
Store in Cape Town,South Africa. It is your specialty store for the
most terrifying strains of “world music”,including quaito. Quaito
is a local genre made up of Zulu geezers shouting frantically over
housey beats. You'll also find other freakish genres such as
Congrotronic,where Congolese traditional tribal instruments are wired
for sound by attaching them to lorry batteries..Not for the faint of
your iPod.”
It
is a cut-out from ARENA magazine,a UK dance music publication.
“Like everyone who stands to read it,we were also dumbfounded at first glance” says Mark. “But we chose to go along with it and expose its absurdity. We hope people who reads it gets the point.”
In the midst of
negative perceptions about African music and the continent in
general,the African Music Store has stood as an ambassador for
African music in the centre of one of the continent's leading urban
metropolis. For the last fifteen years the one-stop shop for music
from across the continent has injected its immediate surroundings and
the city with a platform to celebrate music and culture from all
corners of the continent.
An
upbringing in the heartland of Zululand,where his parents owned a
travel shop,exposed Mark to the strumming and singing of beautiful
Zulu melodies by employees at his parent's business. Together with
partners Helen Rose-Innes and Trevor Rosenfield they opened the
African Music Store in 1997.Lured in by bouncing township bubblegum
beats off Paul Simon's epic Afropop landmark album “Graceland”spilling
out onto Long Street's perpetually overzealous sidewalks,a visitor to
the store immediately feels the aura of the happily contagious and
life-affirming inventiveness often associated with African music.
Every wall is covered by racks of cd`s and vynils spanning the widest
range of African music you can ever imagine. It is all here:
Highlife, Mbalax,Makossa, Township Jazz, Soukous, Mbaqanga,
Bikutsi,Benga Beat,Chimurenga.The list is endless. The contemporary
section is also packed with nuggets: D`Banj from Nigeria is there,so
are exciting band-to-watch-out-for Just A Band out of Nairobi,Kenya.
Others occupying the section include my personal favourites The Very
Best – a collaboration artists Johan Hugo(Sweden),Essau
Mwamwaya(Malawi) and Mo-laudi(South Africa).
“We cover the entire spectrum of African music. We even have representatives in some European countries such as Germany and England who look out and send out the hottest Afro-pop releases from those territories” Mark makes the point.
It is not only about about music however,the store also runs a curio section where crafts and curios from rural community arts and crafts projects are sold. “We source our merchandise from communities all over South Africa and we sell them here. A huge chunk of the profits go back to the projects.”
The stores customers are mainly tourists from abroad. “Our youngest customer to date was a 6 year-old American boy who bought a cd to play for his classmates back home. He said he wanted them to see that he was really in Africa” Mark chuckles.
A consistent top-seller for the store to date is a compilation cd titled The Great South African Trip.
“It is one of the ultimate compendiums of South African music on a double CD. It is a feast of legendary music,filled with delicious tastes of the country's best-known and most talented artists of the last century. The music on the album is as South African as you can get. And of course,the album also includes an excerpt of Nelson Mandela`s famous inauguration speech” Mark says.
A number of prominent local and international artists,actors and other celebrities have come through the store's doors over the years. There are images of Mark,Trevor and Helen with some of the store's assistants and some well-known artists and actors adorning the walls.
“ We've had Youssour Ndou,Hugh Masekela, Mariam Makeba,Angelique Kidjo,Abdullah Ibrahim,Vusi Mahlasela amongst the luminaries of Afro-pop visiting us” he points out.”Internationally we've had musicians such as Josh Groban,Bono and The Edge,Chuck D,and Tinie Tempah come over. In terms of the international actors we`ve had Forrest Witaker,Thandie Newton,Denzel Washington and a few others come through during periods when they were shooting movies in Cape Town.”
Despite the onslaught of globilisation and the free availability of music from numerous others sources globally,it remains to be a remarkable testimony that small independently-run and operated African music stores like the African Music Store continue to maintain their presence and vibrancy.
On my exit,i read a sign high up on the door which reads: “Buying music is not an indulgence in luxury. It is an investment in your well-being.”
That should read: “Buying African music..” instead.
The African Music Store - 134 Long Street, Cape Town
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