South African House Music Videos: Mafikizolo ft. Uhuru, Umlilo ft. Kyla Phil, Bucie, and More

Vee Hua 華婷婷5 min readAugust 30, 20131 comment

DJ Zinhle ft. Busiswa – “My Name is”

To put it quite simply: some queen bee shit in the house.

 

DJ Mahoota vs Vetkuk ft. Thebe – “Masella”

Admittedly, I tried to pass by this music video time and time again but it kept resurfacing in my universe. It’s a good music video for unlikely reasons, primarily centered around how bizarre its use of green screen is. My favorite scene is the semi-lethargic beauty pageant towards the middle of the track, and I find great amusement in how unrefined some of the dance moves are compared to those in most South African music videos. The glitter backgrounds certainly help, as well.


Solange – “Losing You” (Terrible Records)


Lastly, an older track that is not exactly South African… but I just wanted to mention Solange’s 2012 music video for “Losing You”, which was directed by Melina Matsoukas and features high fashion from the Le Sapeurs subculture, which is absolutely fascinating. I would recommend a thorough read on them at Sabotage Times as well as a purchase of Gentleman of Bacongo by Daniele Tamagni, which was the original inspiration for Solange’s music video.

As Solange recalls to Pitchfork:

“When Melina and I decided to film ‘Losing You’ in South Africa, we really didn’t have a real firm concept in place. It was sort of a grab a camera and let’s go moment. I knew I wanted to capture a couple things: the vibe of our friendship and all of the crazy escapades we’ve gotten ourselves into all over the world, and the abstract and elegant Le Sape Society (Society for the Advancement of People of Elegance) formed in the Congo which was documented by Daniele Tamagni in his Gentleman of Bacongo book. We called Daniele to guide us, and some of my friends from New York came down to Cape Town and we all had a very damn good time.”

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Vee Hua 華婷婷

Vee Hua 華婷婷 (they/them) is a writer, filmmaker, and organizer with semi-nomadic tendencies. Much of their work unifies their metaphysical interests with their belief that art can positively transform the self and society. They are the Editor-in-Chief of REDEFINE, Interim Managing Editor of South Seattle Emerald, and Co-Chair of the Seattle Arts Commission. They also previously served as the Executive Director of the interdisciplinary community hub, Northwest Film Forum, where they played a key role in making the space more welcoming and accessible for diverse audiences.

Vee has two narrative short films. Searching Skies (2017) touches on Syrian refugee resettlement in the United States; with it, they helped co-organize The Seventh Art Stand, a national film and civil rights discussion series against Islamophobia. Reckless Spirits (2022) is a metaphysical, multi-lingual POC buddy comedy for a bleak new era, in anticipation of a feature-length project.

Vee is passionate about cultural space, the environment, and finding ways to covertly and overtly disrupt oppressive structures. They also regularly share observational human stories through their storytelling newsletter, RAMBLIN’ WITH VEE!, and are pursuing a Master’s in Tribal Resource and Environmental Stewardship under the Native American Studies Department at the University of Minnesota.

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