BY Nkosazana Ngwadla
Esinako Ndabeni wrote her debut book, “Born to Kwaito: Reflections on the Kwaito Generation,” with co-author Sihle Mthembu while still an undergraduate student at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
The young author started a blog about kwaito and met Sihle via the internet and the pair collaborated on a podcast and from there decided to write the book. “Born to Kwaito” explores the birth of kwaito music and culture during South Africa’s Post-Apartheid era, focusing on how the political backdrop informed the music and vice versa. The book was announced as part of the longlist for the Sunday Times Literary Awards’ Alan Paton Non-Fiction Prize shortly after its release.
Kwaito can be described as an experimentation and evolution of house music with elements of disco and dancehall.
Esinako is interested in and hopes more people write about the ways in which popular culture influences people’s everyday lives and how it encourages and normalizes ideas and behaviors about race, class and gender.
She sees this as the simplest way to engage with complex issues. Esinako is working on a children’s book that she hopes will empower little Black girls to see themselves beyond the limitations that western media places on them.
