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Yo guys, Bafana Bafana/South Africa is officially out the World Cup now. At least we won our last game 2-1, and reminded the French that this is Africa. However we needed way more points to make it to the next round.

To celebrate the win, I’m posting my favourite football tune ever; TKZee’s Shibobo (a type of game play where you pass through the opponent’s legs.)

This song was released to coincide with South Africa’s first appearance at the World Cup in ‘98.  That was more than 10 years ago so excuse the video production qualities and enjoy the music.It samples Europe’s The Final Countdown and features Benni McCarthy, South African/ Blackburn Rovers football star.

This song is also important for its huge crossover appeal at the time when it came out. It got the country excited about the national football team and did quite a bit of “nation building” across races (just 4 years after apartheid). It also became the fastest and biggest selling single in South African history.

The genre of this track is  kwaito, which basically started out in the early nineties in Johannesburg as 4/4 house tracks slowed down, mixed with Afro-flava, and guys rapping/chanting over the beat. While not regarded as hip hop (as South Africa has a rich hip hop history,) kwaito is  similar, and gained massive popularity in a free South Africa, after our first democratic elections in ‘94. Like early hip hop, kwaito was a movement, an outlet of ghetto creativity, a celebration. Weird to think this stuff is retro already…

Even though we’re out of the tournament now, we’ve come a long way, baby!  Well done Bafana. You’ve done us proud. Let’s celebrate!!!