Isicathamiya Music Overview: A Brief History of Isicathamiya

Isicathamiya is an a cappella singing style that is popular in the Zulu South African music community. It is known for close harmonies and choreographed dance moves performed by the singers. Isicathamiya choirs are traditionally all-male.

Isicathamiya became known to American audiences when pop star Paul Simon invited the isicathamiya group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, led by Joseph Shabalala, to perform on his 1986 record Graceland. This came at a time when apartheid rule greatly diminished the rights of Black South Africans. Ladysmith Black Mambazo's mesmerizing harmonies on the tracks "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" and "Homeless" drew international attention to isicathamiya.

Isicathamiya evolved in its present form during the twentieth century, but its roots have sparked some debate.

• Influences from overseas: In 1860, there were a number of New York-based ragtime, vaudeville, and minstrel shows in cities in South Africa. (These minstrel shows featured Black singers, not white singers in blackface.) Later, in the 1890s, Orpheus McAdoo, a Black minstrel star from the United States, toured South Africa to great acclaim. Music historians believe these nineteenth-century musical styles percolated in South African culture and would help inspire the isicathamiya choral music of the twentieth century.
• A genre for Zulu migrant workers: Isicathamiya emerged from South African Zulu culture, which is centered in the eastern part of the country—particularly the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The word “isicathamiya” may derive from the Zulu word “cathama,” which means “to walk softly or tread lightly.” In the early-to-mid-twentieth century, Zulu migrant workers developed their own brand of minstrelsy choral singing that differed from the prevailing mbube genre. Whereas mbube’s singing style was louder and more ebullient, isicathamiya was more subtle and harmonic.
• Introduction to global audiences: Isicathamiya choral music reached global ears in the 1950s and ’60s. The 1939 South African song “Mbube” by Solomon Linda's Original Evening Birds gained international recognition, spurring adaptations like the 1951 Pete Seeger song “Wimoweh” and a 1961 variation called "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by the Tokens. As its title suggests, "Mbube" is in the mbube genre—not the isicathamiya genre—but both genres of music were elevated in the Western consciousness due to these songs. Decades later, folk-pop superstar Paul Simon invited Ladysmith Black Mambazo, who were wildly popular in South Africa in the ’70s and ’80s, to provide choral vocals for his 1986 Graceland record, and a new generation of international listeners discovered isicathamiya.
• A continued place in Zulu culture: The South African cities of Johannesburg and Durban—each with sizable Zulu populations—continue to host isicathamiya competitions most Saturday nights, with singing groups competing from eight o'clock at night until eight o'clock the following morning. Ladysmith Black Mambazo remains an international touring act over sixty years after its founding, although the group's founder Joseph Shabalala died in 2020.

The distinctive sounds and styles of isicathamiya music come from four key elements.

1. 1. Close choral harmonies: Isicathamiya uses the classic four-part a cappella arrangement where voices are divided into soprano, alto, tenor, and bass parts. The lead voice is a tenor, who is backed by an alto and a soprano (performed by a man singing falsetto). The rest of the ensemble sings bass. Unlike its close cousin mbube, which highlights strong, forceful lead vocals, isicathamiya emphasizes blended voices and a balanced call-and-response between the lead vocals and the ensemble.
2. 2. All-male ensembles: The traditional isicathamiya ensemble consists of exclusively male performers. The group member with the highest natural voice sings an alto part. Another singer performs a soprano part using his falsetto register.
3. 3. Accompanying choreography: Isicathamiya singers perform step choreography as they sing. Isicathamiya competitions are judged on this choreography as well as on singing.
4. 4. Socially conscious lyrics: Isicathamiya lyrics often address political and social strife, advocating for social harmony and communalism. They also espouse oneness with nature and often use animals as metaphorical figures of strength and perseverance.

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