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Bongo Maffin is a South African kwaito music group. The group became famous for its hit albums such as Thath'isigubhu. Its lead singer, Thandiswa Mazwai, has since gone solo, releasing two albums, Zabalaza and Ibokwe.
Bongo Maffin formed in 1996, starting as a project of South African deejay Oscar. Appleseed, one of the band members, was born and raised in Zimbabwe, and brings a distinct reggae flavor to the group's music. Another member, Stoan, began his musical career as a singer for the kwaito band Thebe, while Thandwisa (or Red as she if often called), joined in 1997 after working with them as a backup singer and studio musician. The group's expansive and spiritual take on the dance-oriented genre has been compared to the Fugees' broadening of American hip-hop. The comparison is reinforced by singer Thandwisa's soulful crooning, which is reminiscent of the Fugees' Lauryn Hill. Their common passion for music has had a synergistic effect on their collective creativity. The fourth member of the group, Speedy, has since left the group and embarked on a solo career.
The group's music is rooted in the rhythms of house music, but they incorporate reggae, dancehall, rap and contemporary R&B. The group, however, also gives props to their homeland, adding sounds from South Africa's many homegrown genres: the bouncy beats of mbaqanga, gospel and the choral sound of iscathamiya made famous by Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Bongo Maffin is an excellent example of the multiculturalism of kwaito, incorporating five languages into their music (Xhosa, Tswana, Sotho, Shona and English). Furthermore, by incorporating so many different styles of music and by extending its reach around the world - Bongo Maffin "has ... tour[ed] extensively internationally", including performances in North America, Europe, and the Indian Ocean islands as well as across Africa - the group represents kwaito's place as the music of the post-apartheid period. Through kwaito, South Africa and its culture are coming onto the world stage, and groups like Bongo Maffin are a big part of this movement.