Mafikizolo- Udakwa Njalo (South Africa)

Here's information about this group:

from http://www.5sm.co.za/superstars_mafikizolo.htm

..."Their name may mean 'new kids on the block, who just arrived yesterday' in Zulu, but Mafikizolo are no newcomers. This vibrant, stylish group that created a delicious dance brew by mixing old and new South African sounds, have released seven hit filled Afro Pop albums, sold over a million copies, and picked up countless awards, which makes them one of the biggest groups in South Africa.

Mafikizolo are part of South Africa’s kwaito explosion. Kwaito is an urban, electronic, township flavoured sound that was created by young DJs and producers in the joyful early 90’s when Apartheid had crumbled. It’s a hot danceable brew cooked from a fusion of South African township disco, jazz, mbaqanga and imported house, dancehall, reggae, hip hop and R&B. It started out underground but today, it’s a big selling, star studded, and powerful force on the South African music scene.

The Mafikizolo journey began after Theo Kgosinkwe and Nhlanhla Nciza met at talent shows in their township Kagiso in Western Johannesburg where they would imitate R&B acts like Aaliyah and Boyz II Men. Soon they decided to create their own band. They recorded under the coveted Kalawao Jazmee label; their first two albums Mafikizolo (1996) and Music Revolution (1997) not doing that well. Their breakthrough came with their third offering, 1999’s Gatecrashers, with the big hit being the dance track called ‘Lotto’. Lotto was also remixed by American house legends Masters At Work and released on the club scene globally." Gatecrashers was also important because it featured their first Afro Pop track, ‘Majika’, which was received so well be listeners that it made Mafikizolo realise that Afro-Pop was the way to go.

Afro pop is a version of kwaito that fuses traditional South African music, township jazz, gospel and mbaqanga with the beats and bounce of today's dance floor sounds. Mafikizolo’s major breakthrough came when they spiced their Afro Pop sounds with kwela and Marabi music of the 50's and 60's, made famous by the likes of Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba.
"We fell in love with that sound," explains Theo. "We thought it would be interesting for young people like us to go back and revisit the music that was done then. That also inspired the way we dress today, back then fashion and music used to go hand in hand – they were very stylish with their sun glasses, hats, two tone shoes and their cars as well! They were very slick."

The result of this inspiration was their 2002 release, Sibongile named after the Zulu word for 'Thank You', to thank God after surviving a horrible car crash. Sibongile’s first single was a huge love song (that is now a classic and is played at every wedding) 'Ndihamba Nawe' that was based on a track by 50’s diva Sophie Mgcina and simply states ‘when I leave this place, I’m leaving with you boy/girl). The album was a massive success, selling over 350 000 copies (in South Africa 25 000 copies equals Gold) winning them the first two of their eight South African Music Awards.

Mafikizolo have since become trendsetters because of their style, sound, choreography, their super entertaining live act and their appeal to young and old audiences. They’ve collaborated with with 50's ad 60's legends Hugh Masekela, Dorothy Masuka and Busi Mhlongo.

Since Sibongile, Mafikizolo's albums 2003’s Kwela, 2004’s Van Toeka Af and 2006’s Six Mabone (named after the cool cars of the 50’s and 60’s) have all gone multi platinum. "What's beautiful about our albums is that they're a nice package,” enthuses Nhlanhla “There are tracks you can dance to like 'Nisixoshelani' (which features a sample of 80's Italian group The Tarzan Boys) which is about neighbours calling the police because of noise at a party and 'Udakwa Njalo' a traditional wedding song, there are house tracks, but also African ballads like 'Emlanjeni' (that Theo wrote with Hugh Masekela)."

Apart from the 8 SAMA and many other awards they've received, career highlights also include going multi platinum, performing at Nelson Mandela's 46664 AIDS charity shows in Norway and Cape Town, travelling to London, Japan and around Africa; meeting Nelson Mandela and performing for Thabo Mbeki."