History of gqom : why it’s so famous in South Africa
Like life on earth, music is one of the few constants that has continued to evolve through the millennia, making its shift from soft and smooth flowing sounds into music genres such as “Jazz, R&B, Disco, Pop, Hip-hop, Rock, Reggae, Acappella and a host of others.”
For decades, South African music has continued to bless us with its variance of sound, ranging from the “Mariba” in the 20’s to “Kwela” in the 50’s and “Kwaito” in the mid 90’s, ‘House Music in the late 2000’s but of course you can’t talk about all these sounds without mentioning “Gqom.”
Gqom is a style of music that derives not only its name but also its original sound from the “Xhosa and Zulu people,” it takes its root from the Kwaito sound with the difference being its style of creation which involves the use of in-house instruments and software to make its beats that represents a hitting drum. In some other parts of South Africa, Gqom is also known as “Gqomu or Iqgom.
It’s popularity and the wide-spread acceptance of this captivating sound among the South African people is owed largely to the exploit of South African Rapper Okmalumkoolkat, Distruction Boyz whose work has seen Gqom music transcended outside the shores South Africa into the music works of some of African’s (Nigerian) finest artist such as “Patoranking” in his song titled “Available,” CDQ, Mr. Real and many others, blessing us with its numerous displays of catchy dancehall moves and a show of comedic moves.
The hit track from one of the most popular Gqom acts Distruction Boyz called Omunye made Gqom a widespread genre with the fan-generated videos that feature their songs have received over 1 million videos on YouTube.
Owing to its uniqueness, catchiness, vibrancy and astonishing tune that instantly hypnotizes/compels its audience, Gqom continues to melt the hearts of not only South Africans but also music-lovers in and outside the shores of Africa. Thus, seeing it gain wild-spread popularity across clubs and music house/studios in the US and Europe.
