Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

“Kwaito” Music Moves South African Youth
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
06 Jul 2020
🖨️ Print Article

Margaret Kimberley · “Kwaito” Music Moves South African Youth

Xavier Livermon, professor of African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, sees “many parallels” between the US-based Hip Hop phenomenon and the Kwaito music beloved by young South Africans. LIvermon is author of the book, “Kwaito Bodies: Remastering Space and Subjectivity in Post-Apartheid South Africa.” Livermon doesn’t see Kwaito as purely commercial and self-commodification. “South African youth play with and engage the system,” he said, “but also push back against it.”

South Africa

Related Podcasts

BAR Radio Logo
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Black Agenda Radio July 17, 2026
17 July 2026
In this week’s segment, we discuss the Supreme Court ruling that ends Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian immigrants.
South Africa
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
The Anti-Immigration Movement in South Africa
17 July 2026
What is behind this South African movement that drives immigrants out of the country?
Global March to Gaza
Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
Nkosi Mandela on the Global March to Gaza
13 June 2025
Our guest is Nkosi Mandela. He is the tribal chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council and the grandson of Nelson Mandela.

More Stories


  • Gary Wilson
    Musk’s A.I. Power Plant Exposes Capitalism’s Data-Center Crisis
    27 May 2026
    A Black community in Tennessee is living with the environmental impact of a data center brought to them by Elon Musk and conniving elected officials.
  • Elías Jaua , Federico Fuentes
    Former Chávez VP: Venezuela Needs a New ‘struggle for liberation’
    27 May 2026
    A former vice-president who served with Hugo Chávez provides analysis on what he calls neo-colonial control and coercion the U.S. is exercising against Venezuela.
  • Matt Sledge , Sam Biddle
    ICE Recruitment Tweets Are So Racist That Cops Feared They Could Incite Neo-Nazi Violence
    27 May 2026
    A newly uncovered police bulletin warns that white supremacists may interpret ICE social media content as a call to violence.
  • Stephen Kimber
    True Lies Across the Water
    27 May 2026
    The real story behind the so-called murder charge against former Cuban President Raúl Castro.
  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio May 22, 2026
    22 May 2026
    In this week’s segment, we discuss the issue of deed theft, the loss of property by fraudulent means, which disproportionately impacts Black communities. But we begin with a conversation about Congo…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us