Pretoria-based duo Alfred Mhlanga and Kgotatso Tshabalala make contemporary electronic music full of soul and charm. Their debut full-length is a journey through 2020’s bizarre mindscape. The South African electronic music scene was only able to find its stride from the mid-90s onwards. As Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners famously walked their first steps as free citizens in the first half of the decade, cultural boycotts of South African art were lifted by many countries. Almost simultaneously, music from other countries became more easily accessible locally. This not only meant that electronic music could be imported into the country, but also that global trends would influence the South African music scene, helping to birth Kwaito music and launch the careers of producers and DJs who are now luminaries. In South African slang, born free denotes someone who, born after the onset of democracy, did not experience apartheid even as a child; ma 2000 is a term used for young people who were born after the year 2000. Both of these terms are often used patronizingly, with connotations of flimsy immaturity associated with them. Ironically, in the layperson’s view, the socio-economic adversity of apartheid is still valued above only having experienced democracy. In common parlance, the two producers who make up Native Soul would be considered ma2000, by virtue of their age. Kgothatso Tshabalala is 19 years old and Zakhele Mhlanga (DJ Zakes) is 20. Their debut electronic music album, Teenage Dreams, is not easily dismissed as a project that shows their age, though. Far from it. Teenage Dreams presents a youthful, experimental sound, but the arrangement of each song and how each of the project’s composite parts are put together demonstrate an artistic maturity beyond the two producers’ respective ages. Enjoy the title track of the album Teenage Dream from Native Soul!
This Is Pop? 