She’s a Witch (Tikoloshi)

By the end of the 1980s drum machine rhythms and sharp disco synths of Bubblegum had been ruling South African airwaves for almost a decade, offering some welcome escapism from the turbulent political situation. But by 1988 the slicker sounds of house had started bleeding into South African pop, eventually resulting in the birth of kwaito in the 1990s. The six dancefloor ready tracks on The Bees’ She’s A Witch - Tikoloshi capture the moment in between, when playful bubblegum vocals melded with the dance-oriented sounds of house in a sort of proto-kwaito. In the percussive synth basslines especially you can hear the touch of producer Steve Cooks, who went on to produce kwaito pioneer Spokes H.