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The song is known world-wide thanks to the interpretation of South African singer Miriam Makeba (herself a Xhosa). In her discography the song appears in several versions, both with the title Qongqothwane and as The Click Song. The song was written and originally performed by The Manhattan Brothers who made it famous across Africa. Miriam was ...
Xhosa music has long been a major part of the music of South Africa, especially in the field of jazz. Since olden times, singing has been a tradition and part of culture among the Xhosas. Xhosa music is characteristically expressive and communicative which includes rhythmical expression of words and sounds.
Xhosa women in traditional Xhosa attire performing. Traditional Xhosa songs are in a call-and-response form. The song leader leads the song by singing the "call", and the rest of the people respond to the call in song. The song leader also chooses the songs to be sung, and helps structure and organise the different traditional ceremonies.
Her first solo album, titled Songs of Greeting, Healing and Heritage, was released in 2019 under the Africa Open Institute. The album is a collection of traditional songs performed with umrhubhe musical bow, uhadi, and isitolotolo. It reflects Mantombi’s deep connection to her cultural heritage and her role as a storyteller through music.
[citation needed] There are songs for various ritual occasions; one of the best-known Xhosa songs is a wedding song called "Qongqothwane", performed by Miriam Makeba as "Click Song #1". Besides Makeba, several modern groups record and perform in Xhosa. Missionaries introduced the Xhosa to Western choral singing.
The album included one of her most famous hits in the US, "Qongqothwane", which was known in English as "The Click Song" because Makeba's audiences could not pronounce the Xhosa name. [26] Time magazine called her the "most exciting new singing talent to appear in many years", and Newsweek compared her voice to "the smoky tones and delicate ...
Enoch Mankayi Sontonga (c. 1873 – 18 April 1905) was a South African composer, who is best known for writing the Xhosa hymn "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" (English: "God Bless Africa"), which, in abbreviated version, has been sung as the first half of the national anthem of South Africa since 1994.
The song was the official anthem for the African National Congress during the apartheid era and was a symbol of the anti-apartheid movement. [7] For decades during the apartheid regime it was considered by many to be the unofficial national anthem of South Africa, representing the suffering of the oppressed masses.