Gumba Fire: Bubblegum Soul & Synth​-​Boogie in 1980s South Africa album cover
Gumba Fire: Bubblegum Soul & Synth​-​Boogie in 1980s South Africa

Various Artists

1980 - 1989
Soundway

With its joyous township harmonies, bright synths and drum-machine rhythms, bubblegum soundtracked a pivotal era for South Africa, and crossed racial devides when the country’s apartheid government was willing to do anything to prevent that. With a selection of 18 tracks chosen by Soundway’s Miles Cleret and DJ Okapi of Afrosynth Records (the heir of afrosynth, the blog dedicated to the discovery of South African bubblegum/disco from the 80s & early 90s),  Gumba Fire: Bubblegum Soul & Synth offers a snapshot of this particular, if fleeting, moment in the evolution of South African dance music. 

– Megan Iacobini de Fazio

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