So what exactly is sgija?
The first time I heard about sgija show was last year. My younger brother was telling me about it, he’s trying out producing music and that’s his fascination. And right now what [sgija] is not even well-documented, it’s more of like a social interpretation from what I’ve gathered, there’s nothing really on paper that says “this [is what] makes sgija’ and this is what doesn’t make sgija.” But they are like recurring themes that make the sound sgija. The first one is that it’s very close to what they call private school amapiano – it’s much smoother [than some amapiano], with soulful chord progressions, you know, very similar to deep house [in its] foundations and elements. The log drum is also there, so that’s what also makes it very close to amapiano, but it’s more at the back, so it doesn’t lead as much as it does on amapiano.
Has the recent surge of international interest in South African music, and investment from brands like Ballantine’s, made a difference on the ground in SA?
The thing about South Africa is that in relation to the rest of the continents, we have a lot of international relations on so many levels, especially JoBurg to be specific. So international attention is quite a normal thing. And it’s valued and celebrated, but I don’t think it’s given anything a step up per say.
But this is what I can tell you: Having hung out with Njeglic [respected Soweto producer/DJ who appeared on a panel alongside Mfula], I think he came to a realisation [like] myself that, you know, this is actually a very big platform and a well-respected. And it showed it in the production quality, and so forth. I think [the programme] brought some refreshing perspective to amapiano as young genre that hasn’t really gotten through in a lot of space in credible spaces, and hasn’t had its artists well-respected and treated professionally. I’d say just the experience upped the value of that quite a bit.
