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Sports video game

A sports video game is a video game that simulates the practice of sports. Most sports have been recreated with video games, including team sports, track and field, extreme sports, and combat sports. Some games emphasize playing the sport (such as EA Sports FC, eFootball and NBA 2K), whilst others emphasize strategy and sport management (such as Football Manager and Out of the Park Baseball). Some, such as Need for Speed, Arch Rivals and Punch-Out!!, satirize the sport for comic effect. This genre has been popular throughout the history of video games and is competitive, just like real-world sports. A number of game series feature the names and characteristics of real teams and players, and are updated annually to reflect real-world changes. The sports genre is one of the oldest genres in gaming history.

Game design
Sports games involve physical and tactical challenges, and test the player's precision and accuracy. Most sports games attempt to model the athletic characteristics required by that sport, including speed, strength, acceleration, accuracy, and so on. As with their respective sports, these games take place in a stadium or arena with clear boundaries. Sports games often provide play-by-play and color commentary through the use of recorded audio.

Sports games sometimes make use of different modes for different parts of the game. This is especially true in games about American football such as the Madden NFL series, where executing a pass play requires six different gameplay modes in the span of approximately 45 seconds. Sometimes, other sports games offer a menu where players may select a strategy while play is temporarily suspended. Association football video games sometimes shift gameplay modes when it is time for the player to attempt a penalty kick, a free shot at goal from the penalty spot, taken by a single player. Some sports games also require players to shift roles between the athletes and the coach or manager. These mode switches are more intuitive than other game genres because they reflect actual sports.

Older 2D sports games sometimes used an unrealistic graphical scale, where athletes appeared to be quite large in order to be visible to the player. As sports games have evolved, players have come to expect a realistic graphical scale with a high degree of verisimilitude. Sports games often simplify the game physics for ease of play, and ignore factors such as a player's inertia. Games typically take place with a highly accurate time-scale, although they usually allow players to play quick sessions with shorter game quarters or periods.

Sports games sometimes treat button-pushes as continuous signals rather than discrete moves, in order to initiate and end a continuous action. For example, football games may distinguish between short and the long passes based on how long the player holds a button. Golf games often initiate the backswing with one button-push, and the swing itself is initiated by a subsequent push.

Arcade
Arcade sports games have traditionally been very popular arcade games. The competitive nature of sports lends itself well to the arcades where the main objective is usually to obtain a high score. The arcade style of play is generally more unrealistic and focuses on a quicker gameplay experience. However the competitive nature of sports and being able to gain a high score while competing against friends for free online, has made online sports games very popular. Examples of this include the NFL Blitz and NBA Jam series.

Simulation
Simulation games are more realistic than arcade games, with the emphasis being more on realism than on how fun the game is to pick up and play based from the competitive seasons of each sport. The simulation-style tends to be slower and more accurate with normal rules while arcade games tend to be fast and can have all kinds of ad-hoc rules and ideas thrown in, especially pre-2000s. Examples of this include the EA Sports FC, NHL, EA Sports WRC, F1, MotoGP, PGA Tour, PGA Tour 2K, MLB The Show, Madden NFL and NBA 2K series.

Management
A sports management game puts the player in the role of team manager. Whereas some games are played online against other players, management games usually pit the player against AI controlled teams in the same league. Players are expected to handle strategy, tactics, transfers, and financial issues. Various examples of these games can be found in the sports management category.

Multi-sport
Since Track & Field (1983), various multi-sport video games have combined multiple sports into a single game. Wii Sports and Nintendo Switch Sports are recent examples. A popular sub-genre are Olympic video games, including Track & Field and other similar titles. Multi-sport tournaments are becoming the basis for computer games.

Origins (1958–1972)

Sports video games have origins in sports electro-mechanical games (EM games), which were arcade games manufactured using a mixture of electrical and mechanical components, for amusement arcades between the 1940s and 1970s. Examples include boxing games such as International Mutoscope Reel Company's K.O. Champ (1955), bowling games such as Bally Manufacturing's Bally Bowler and Chicago Coin's Corvette from 1966, baseball games such as Midway Manufacturing's Little League (1966) and Chicago Coin's All Stars Baseball (1968), other team sport games such as Taito's Crown Soccer Special (1967) and Crown Basketball (1968), and air hockey type games such as Sega's MotoPolo (1968) and Air Hockey (1972) by Brunswick Billiards.

The earliest sports video game dates backs to 1958, when William Higinbotham created a game called Tennis for Two, a competitive two-player tennis game played on an oscilloscope. The players would select the angle at which to put their racket, and pressed a button to return it. Although this game was incredibly simple, it demonstrated how an action game (rather than previous puzzles) could be played on a computer. Video games prior to the late 1970s were primarily played on university mainframe computers under timesharing systems that supported multiple computer terminals on school campuses. The two dominant systems in this era were Digital Equipment Corporation's PDP-10 and Control Data Corporation's PLATO. Both could only display text, and not graphics, originally printed on teleprinters and line printers, but later printed on single-color CRT screens.

Ralph Baer developed Table Tennis for the first video game console, the Magnavox Odyssey, released in 1972. While the console had other sports-themed game cards, they required the use of television overlays while playing similarly to board games or card games. Table Tennis was the only Odyssey game that was entirely electronic and did not require an overlay, introducing a ball-and-paddle game design that showcased the potential of the new video game medium. This provided the basis for the first commercially successful video game, Pong (1972), released as an arcade video game by Atari, Inc.

Ball-and-paddle era (1973–1975)
Numerous ball-and-paddle games that were either clones or variants of Pong were released for arcades in 1973. Atari themselves released a four-player cooperative multiplayer variant, Pong Doubles (1973), based on tennis doubles. In the United States, the best-selling arcade video game of 1973 was Pong, followed by several of its clones and variants, including Pro Tennis from Williams Electronics, Winner from Midway Manufacturing, Super Soccer and Tennis Tourney from Allied Leisure (later called Centuri), and TV Tennis from Chicago Coin.

In Japan, arcade manufacturers such as Taito initially avoided video games as they found Pong to be simplistic compared to more complex EM games, but after Sega successfully tested-marketed Pong in Japan, Sega and Taito released the clones Pong Tron and Elepong, respectively, in July 1973, before the official Japanese release of Pong by Atari Japan (later part of Namco) in November 1973. Tomohiro Nishikado's four-player Pong variant Soccer was released by Taito in November 1973, with a green background to simulate an association football playfield along with a goal on each side. Another Taito variant, Pro Hockey (1973), set boundaries around the screen and only a small gap for the goal.

Tomohiro Nishikado wanted to move beyond simple rectangles to character graphics, resulting in his development of a basketball game, Taito's TV Basketball, released in April 1974. It was the earliest use of character sprites to represent human characters in a video game. While the gameplay was similar to earlier ball-and-paddle games, it displayed images both for the players and the baskets, and attempted to simulate basketball. Each player controls two team members, a forward and a guard; the ball can be passed between team members before shooting, and the ball has to fall into the opposing team's basket to score a point. The game was released in North America by Midway as TV Basketball, selling 1,400 arcade cabinets in the United States, a production record for Midway up until they released Wheels the following year. Ramtek later released Baseball in October 1974, similarly featuring the use of character graphics.

In 1975, Nintendo released EVR-Race, a horse racing simulation game with support for up to six players. It was a mixture between a video game and an electro-mechanical game, and played back video footage from a video tape.

Decline (1976–1982)
After the market became flooded with Pong clones, the Pong market crashed around the mid-1970s. Sports video games would not regain the same level of success until the 1980s.

In 1976, Sega released an early combat sport game, Heavyweight Champ, based on boxing and now considered the first fighting game.

In March 1978, Sega released World Cup, an association football game with a trackball controller. In October 1978, Atari released Atari Football, which is considered to be the first video game to accurately emulate American football; it also popularized the use of a trackball, with the game's developers mentioning it was inspired by an earlier Japanese association football game that used a trackball. Atari Football was the second highest-earning arcade video game of 1979 in the United States, below only Taito's shoot 'em up blockbuster Space Invaders (1978), though Atari Football was the only sports game among the top ten highest-earners.

In 1980, Mattel's Basketball for the Intellivision was the first basketball video game to be licensed by the National Basketball Association (NBA). On home computers, Microsoft's Olympic Decathlon (1980) was one of the first sports-related programs to mix game and simulation elements, and was an early example of an Olympic track-and-field game. The first association football management simulation, Football Manager, was released for the ZX Spectrum computer in 1982.

Between 1981 and 1983, the Atari's VCS (2600) and Mattel's Intellivision waged a series of high-stakes TV advertising campaigns promoting their respective systems, marking the start of the first console wars. Atari prevailed in arcade games and had a larger customer base due to its lower price, while Intellivision touted its visually superior sports games. Sports writer George Plimpton was featured in the Intellivision ads, which showed the parallel games side by side. Both Atari and Intellivision fielded at least one game for baseball, American football, hockey, basketball and association football. Atari's sports games included Activision Tennis (1981).

Resurgence (1983–1985)
Sports video games experienced a resurgence from 1983. As the golden age of arcade video games came to an end, arcade manufacturers began looking for ways to reinvigorate the arcade video game industry, so they began turning to sports games. The arcade industry began producing sports games at levels not seen since the days of Pong and its clones, which played a role in the recovery of the arcade market by the mid-1980s. There were initially high expectations for laserdisc games to help revive the arcade industry in 1983, but it was instead non-laserdisc sports games that ended up being the most well-received hits at amusement arcade shows by late 1983.

Arcades

In March 1983, Sega released Alpha Denshi's arcade game Champion Baseball, which became a blockbuster success in Japanese arcades, with Sega comparing its impact on Japanese arcades to that of Space Invaders. Champion Baseball was a departure from the "space games" and "cartoon" action games that had previously dominated the arcades, and subsequently served as the prototype for later baseball video games. It had a split-screen format, displaying the playfield from two camera angles, one from the outfield and another close-up shot of the player and batter, while also giving players the option of selecting relief pitchers or pinch hitters, while an umpire looks on attentively to make the game calls. The game also had digitized voices for the umpire, and individual player statistics.

Sports games became more popular across arcades worldwide with the arrival of Konami's Track & Field, known as Hyper Olympic in Japan, introduced in September 1983. It was an Olympic-themed athletics game that had multiple Olympic track-and-field events (including the 100-meter dash, long jump, javelin throw, 110-meter hurdles, hammer throw, and high jump) and allowed up to four players to compete. It had a horizontal side-scrolling format, depicting one or two tracks at a time, a large scoreboard that displayed world records and current runs, and a packed audience in the background. Despite the industry's hype for laserdisc games at the time, Track & Field became the most well-received game at the Amusement Machine Show (AM Show) in Tokyo and the Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) show in the United States. The game sold 38,000 arcade units in Japan, became one of the top five highest-grossing arcade games of 1984 in the United States, and the top-grossing arcade game of 1984 in the United Kingdom. It was also the basis for an organized video game competition that drew more than a million players in 1984. The success of Track & Field spawned other similar Olympic video games.

Numerous sports video games were subsequently released in arcades after Track & Field, including American football games such as 10-Yard Fight (1983) by Irem and Goal to Go (1984) by Stern Electronics, boxing video games such as Nintendo's Punch-Out! (1984), martial arts sports fighting games such as Technōs Japan's Karate Champ (1984), the Nintendo VS. System titles VS. Tennis and VS. Baseball, Taito's golf game Birdie King II, and Data East's Tag Team Wrestling. 10-Yard Fight in 1983 had a career mode, where the player progresses from high school, to college, professional, playoff, and Super Bowl, as the difficulty increases with each step. Irem's waterskiing game Tropical Angel had a female player character, and was one of the two most well-received games at the September 1983 AM Show (along with Hyper Olympic) for its graphics and gameplay. Another sports game with female player characters was Taito's Joshi Volleyball (Big Spikers), which topped the Japanese table arcade cabinet chart in December 1983. Kaneko's Roller Aces was a roller skating game played from a third-person perspective, while Technōs Japan released the wrestling game Tag Team Wrestling.

In the field of association football games, Alpha Denshi's Exciting Soccer (1983) featured digitized voices and a top-down overhead perspective, which was later popularized by Tehkan World Cup (1985) from Tehkan (later Tecmo). Tehkan World Cup was a multiplayer association football game with a trackball controller, where a button was used for kicking the ball and the trackball used for the direction and speed of the shot, with gameplay that was fairly realistic. It was a landmark title for association football games, considered revolutionary for its trackball control system, its top-down perspective that allows players to see more of the pitch, and its trackball-based game physics. It provided the basis for later association football games such as MicroProse Soccer (1988) and the Sensible Soccer series (1992 debut).

Several sports laserdisc games were released for arcades in 1984, including Universal's Top Gear which displayed 3D animated race car driving, while Sega's GP World and Taito's Laser Grand Prix displayed live-action footage. Sega also produced a bullfighting game, Bull Fight, and a multiple-watersports game Water Match (published by Bally Midway), which included swimming, kayaking and boat racing; while Taito released a female sports game based on high-school track & field, The Undoukai, and a dirt track racing game Buggy Challenge, with a buggy. Other dirt racing games from that year were dirt bike games: Nintendo's Excitebike and SNK's motocross game Jumping Cross. Nintendo also released a four-player racquet sport game, VS. Tennis (the Nintendo VS. System version of Tennis).

That same year, ice hockey games were also released: Alpha Denshi's Bull Fighter and Data East's Fighting Ice Hockey. Data East also released a lawn sports game Haro Gate Ball, based on croquet, while Nichibutsu released a game based on roller derby, Roller Jammer. Meanwhile, Technos Japan released a game based on sumo wrestling, Syusse Oozumou, and the first martial arts combat-sport game, Karate Champ, considered one of the most influential fighting games. In 1985, Nintendo released an arm wrestling game, Arm Wrestling, while Konami released a table tennis game that attempted to accurately reflect the sport, Konami's Ping Pong.

Homes

On home consoles, Mattel released Intellivision World Series Baseball (IWSB), designed by Don Daglow and Eddie Dombrower, in late 1983. It is considered the earliest sports video game to use multiple camera angles to show the action in a manner resembling a sports television broadcast. Earlier sports games prior to this had displayed the entire field on screen, or scrolled across static top-down fields to show the action. IWSB mimicked television baseball coverage by showing the batter from a modified "center field" camera, the baserunners in corner insets and defensive plays from a camera behind the batter. It was also one of the first sports video games to feature audibly speaking digitized voices (as opposed to text), using the Mattel Intellivoice module. The game was sophisticated for its time, but was a commercial failure, released around the time of the video game crash of 1983 when the North American home video game market collapsed.

Nintendo released a series of highly successful sports games for the Nintendo Entertainment System console and the arcade Nintendo VS. System, starting with Baseball (1983) and Tennis (1984). They played an important role in the history of the Nintendo Entertainment System, as they were the earliest NES games released in North America, initially in the arcades and then with the console's launch. Nintendo's arcade version VS. Baseball (1984) was competing with Sega's earlier hit Champion Baseball in the arcades.

On home computers, Track & Field spawned similar hit Olympic games for computer platforms, such as Ocean Software's Daley Thompson's Decathlon (1984). Electronic Arts produced their first sports game for home computers, the basketball title Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One on One (1983), which was the first licensed sports game based on the names and likenesses of famous athletes; the inclusion of famous real world athletes would become one of the most important selling points for sports games. One on One became Electronic Arts' best-selling game, and the highest-selling computer sports game, having sold 400,000 copies by late 1988.

Further growth (1986–1994)
In the late 1980s, basketball video games gained popularity in arcades. Konami's Double Dribble (1986) featured colorful graphics, five-on-five gameplay, cutaway animations for slam dunks, and a digitized version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" theme. It was considered the most realistic basketball game upon release, with fast-paced action, detailed players, a large side-scrolling court, innovative cinematic dunks, and detailed sound effects, beginning a trend where presentation would play an increasingly important role in sports games. Magic Johnson's Fast Break (1988) by Arcadia Systems had detailed characters and audio clips of Magic Johnson's voice. Midway, who had not released a basketball game in sixteen years since Taito's TV Basketball in 1974, released Arch Rivals (1989), a two-on-two game featuring large players with distinct looks, a basketball court, a crowd, cheerleaders, four periods, the ability to rough up an opponent, and big dunks capable of backboard shattering. Konami's Punk Shot (1990) is an arcade basketball game with an element of violence, allowing players to physically attack each other, which CU Amiga magazine compared to the film Rollerball (1975).

The success of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in North America led to the platform becoming a major platform for American sports video games. Basketball games included a port of Double Dribble, with a halo mechanic signifying the optimum release for shots, and Tecmo NBA Basketball (1992). American football video games included Tecmo Bowl (1987), which was ported to the NES with the NFL Players Association license, and Tecmo Super Bowl (1991), which introduced a season mode with nearly the entire NFL roster. Tecmo Super Bowl is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential games of all time, as it was the first mainstream sports video game with both the league and player association licenses, with ESPN ranking it the greatest sports video game of all time. Sega also developed American football games for their competing Master System console, Great Football in 1987 and American Pro Football (Walter Payton Football) in 1989, the latter very well received by critics at the time.

The late 1980s is considered the "Golden Age" of baseball video games. Namco's R.B.I. Baseball (1986) and the Atlus title Major League Baseball (1988) for the NES were the first fully licensed baseball video games. SNK's Baseball Stars (1989) was a popular arcade-style NES game, while Jaleco's NES title Bases Loaded (1987) was a simulation game with statistics. In 1988, EA released Earl Weaver Baseball, developed by Don Daglow and Eddie Dombrower, which for the first time combined a highly accurate simulation game with high quality graphics. This was also the first game in which an actual baseball manager provided the computer AI. In 1996 Computer Gaming World named EWB the 25th of its Best 150 Games of All Time, the second highest ranking for any sports game in that 1981–1996 period (after FPS Football).

The 1990s began in the 16-bit era, as a wave of fourth generation video game consoles were created to handle more complex games and graphics. The Sega Genesis/Mega Drive in particular became renowned for its sports video games, as it was more powerful than the NES and with Sega targeting an older audience than Nintendo's typically younger target demographic at the time. Basketball video games included EA's Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs (1991), which launched the NBA Live series. World Series Baseball (1994) introduced the "catcher-cam" perspective, launching the World Series Baseball series and becoming the first game in the Sega Sports line.

In 1989, Electronic Arts producer Richard Hilleman hired GameStar's Scott Orr to re-design John Madden Football for the fast-growing Sega Genesis. In 1990, Orr and Hilleman released Madden Football. They focused on producing a head-to-head two-player game with an intuitive interface and responsive controls. Electronic Arts had only expected to sell around 75,000 units, but instead the title sold around 400,000 units.

In 1990, Taito released Football Champ, an association football game that allows up to four players in both competitive and cooperative gameplay. It also let players perform a number of actions, including a back heel, power kick, high kick, sliding tackle, super shot, and fouling other players (kicking, punching, and pulling shirts), which the player can get away with if the referee isn't looking, or get a yellow or red penalty card for if he is. In 1991, the American football game Tecmo Super Bowl was the first mainstream sports game to feature both the league and player association licenses of the sport it emulated; previous titles either had one license or the other, but Tecmo Super Bowl was the first to feature real NFL players on real teams.

Orr joined EA full-time in 1991 after the success of Madden on the Sega Genesis, and began a ten-year period of his career where he personally supervised the production of the Madden Football series. During this time EA formed EA Sports, a brand name used for sports games they produced. EA Sports created several ongoing series, with a new version released each year to reflect the changes in the sport and its teams since the previous release.

Sega launched its own competing NFL series on the Sega Genesis. The gameplay of Sega's earlier 1987 Master System title Great Football (1987) was the basis for Joe Montana Football (1991), developed by EA and published by Sega for the Genesis. Sega then released their own sequel without EA's involvement, Joe Montana II: Sports Talk Football (1991), which became the first American football game with audio commentary. After Sega acquired the NFL license, they shortened the title to NFL Sports Talk Football Starring Joe Montana, which later became known as Sega's NFL series. Due to strong competition from Madden, the series was cancelled in 1997.

Licensed basketball games began becoming more common by the early 1990s, including Sega's Pat Riley Basketball (1990) and Acme Interactive's David Robinson's Supreme Court (1992) for the Sega Genesis, and Hudson Soft's Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball (1991) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). EA followed Jordan vs. Bird: One on One (1988) with Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs (1989), the latter ported to the Genesis in 1991, which added more simulation aspects to the subgenre. In the arcades, Midway followed Arch Rivals with NBA Jam (1993), which introduced digitized sprites similar to their fighting game Mortal Kombat (1992), combined with a gameplay formula similar to Arch Rivals. In its first twelve months of release, NBA Jam generated over US$1 billion to become the highest-grossing arcade sports game of all time.

FIFA International Soccer (1993), the first game in EA's FIFA series of association football video games, released on the Sega Mega Drive and became the best-selling home video game of 1993 in the United Kingdom. In contrast to the top-down perspective of earlier association football games, FIFA introduced an isometric perspective to the genre. International Superstar Soccer (1994), the first game in Konami's International Superstar Soccer (ISS) series, released for the SNES. A rivalry subsequently emerged between the FIFA and ISS franchises.

Transition to 3D polygons (1994–1997)
In the 1990s, 3D graphics were introduced in sports games. Early uses of flat-shaded polygons date back to 1991, with home computer games such as 4D Sports Boxing and Winter Challenge. However, it was not until the mid-1990s that 3D polygons were popularized in sports games.

Sega's arcade title Virtua Striker (1994) was the first association football game to use 3D graphics, and was also notable for its early use of texture mapping. Meanwhile, Sierra Online released American football title Front Page Sports Football in 1995 for the PC. The following year, Computer Gaming World named it twelfth of the Best 150 Games of All Time, the highest ranking sports game on the list.

International Superstar Soccer Pro (ISS Pro), released for the PlayStation in 1997, was considered a "game-changer" for association football games, which had been largely dominated by rival FIFA on home systems for the last several years. Developed by Konami Tokyo, ISS Pro introduced a new 3D engine capable of better graphics and more sophisticated gameplay than its rival. Whereas FIFA had a simpler "arcade-style" approach to its gameplay, ISS Pro introduced more complex simulation gameplay emphasizing tactics and improvisation, enabled by tactical variety such as nine in-match strategy options.

In 1997, Electronic Gaming Monthly reported that sports games accounted for roughly 50% of console software sales.

Extreme sports enter into the mainstream (1996–2001)
At the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century, extreme sport video games began to appear more frequently.

Namco's Alpine Racer (1994) was a skiing winter sports simulator that became a major success in arcades during the mid-1990s. This led to a wave of similar sports games capitalizing on its success during the late 1990s, from companies such as Sega, Namco, Konami and Innovative Concepts.

In 1996, two snowboarding video games were released: Namco's Alpine Surfer in the arcades, and the UEP Systems game Cool Boarders for the PlayStation console. The following year, Square's popular role-playing video game, Final Fantasy VII, included a snowboarding minigame that was later released as an independent snowboarding game, Final Fantasy VII Snowboarding, for mobile phones. In 2000, SSX was released. Based around boardercross, the game featured fast downhill races, avoiding various objects whilst using others to perform jumps and increase the player's speed.

In 1997, Sega released one of the first mainstream skateboarding games, Top Skater, in the arcades, where it introduced a skateboard controller interface. Top Skater served as a basic foundation for later skateboarding games. The following year saw the release of the console skateboarding game Street Sk8er, developed by Atelier Double and published by Electronic Arts. In 1999, the subgenre was further popularized by Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, an arcade-like skateboarding game where players were challenged to execute elaborate tricks or collect a series of elements hidden throughout the level. Tony Hawk's went on to be one of the most popular sports game franchises.

Sports games become big business (2002–2005)
Association football games became more popular in the 2000s. Konami's ISS series spawned the Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) series in the early 2000s. A rivalry subsequently emerged between FIFA and PES, considered the "greatest rivalry" in the history of sports video games. PES became known for having "faster-paced tactical play" and more varied emergent gameplay, while FIFA was known for having more licenses. The FIFA series had sold over 16 million units by 2000, while the PES series had sold more than 10 million units by 2002. The sales gap between the two franchises had narrowed by the mid-2000s.

On December 13, 2004, Electronic Arts began a string of deals that granted exclusive rights to several prominent sports organizations, starting with the NFL. This was quickly followed with two deals in January 2008 securing rights to the AFL and ESPN licenses. This was a particularly hard blow to Sega, the previous holder of the ESPN license, who had already been affected by EA's NFL deal. As the market for football brands was being quickly taken by EA, Take-Two Interactive responded by contacting the Major League Baseball Players Association and signing a deal that granted exclusive third-party major-league baseball rights; a deal not as restrictive, as first-party projects were still allowed. The NBA was then approached by several developers, but declined to enter into an exclusivity agreement, instead granting long-term licenses to Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive, Midway Games, Sony, and Atari. In April 2005, EA furthered its hold on American football licensing by securing rights to all NCAA brands.

Sega Activator: IR motion detection (1993–1994)
In 1993, Sega released the Sega Activator, a motion detection game controller designed to respond to a player's body movements, for their Genesis console. The Activator was based on the Light Harp, a MIDI controller invented by Assaf Gurner. He was an Israeli musician and Kung Fu martial artist who researched inter disciplinarian concepts to create the experience of playing an instrument using the whole body's motion. It was released for the Mega Drive (Genesis) in 1993. It could read the player's physical movements and was the first controller to allow full-body motion sensing, The original invention related to a 3 octaves musical instrument that could interpret the user's gestures into musical notes via MIDI protocol. The invention was registered as patent initially in Israel on May 11, 1988, after 4 years of R&D. In 1992, the first complete Light Harp was created by Assaf Gurner and Oded Zur, and was presented to Sega of America.

Like the Light Harp, the Activator is an octagonal frame that lies on the floor. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on the frame vertically project thin, invisible beams of infrared light. When something, such as a player's arm or leg, interrupts a beam, the device reads the distance at which the interruption occurred, and interprets the signal as a command. The device can also interpret signals from multiple beams simultaneously (i.e., chords) as a distinct command.

Sega designed special Activator motions for a few of their own game releases. By tailoring motion signals specifically for a game, Sega attempted to provide a more intuitive gaming experience. A player could, for example, compete in Greatest Heavyweights of the Ring or Eternal Champions by miming punches.

Despite these efforts, the Activator was a commercial failure. Like the Power Glove of 1989, it was widely rejected for its "unwieldiness and inaccuracy".

Wii Remote: IR motion detection with accelerometry (2006–2009)

In 2006, Nintendo released Wii Sports, a sports game for the Wii console in which the player had to physically move their Wii Remote to move their avatar known as a Mii. The game contained five different sports—boxing, bowling, golf, tennis, and baseball—which could all be played individually or with multiple players. Players could also track their skill progress through the game, as they became more proficient at the different sports, and use the training mode to practice particular situations. As of 2013, Wii Sports became the second-highest selling video game of all time.

Wii Sports opened the way for other physically reactive sports-based video games, such as Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, the first official title to feature both Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, in which players used the Wii Remote to simulate running, jumping and other Olympic sports. In 2008, Nintendo released Wii Fit, which allowed players to do aerobic and fitness exercises using the Wii Balance Board. In a similar light, 2008 saw the release of Mario Kart Wii, a racing game which allowed the player to use their remote with a Wii Wheel to act as a steering wheel, akin to those on traditional arcade racing games.

Sports games today (2010–present)
The most popular subgenre in Europe is association football games, which up until 2010 was dominated by EA Sports with the FIFA series and Konami with the Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) series. While FIFA was commercially ahead, the sales gap between the two franchises had narrowed. FIFA responded by borrowing gameplay elements from PES to improve FIFA, which eventually pulled ahead commercially by a significant margin in the 2010s and emerged as the world's most successful sports video game franchise.

In North America, the sports genre is currently dominated by EA Sports and 2K Sports, who hold licenses to produce games based on official leagues. EA's franchises include the Madden NFL series, the NHL series, the PGA Tour series, the UFC series, the F1 series, the EA Sports FC series, and the NBA Live series. 2K Sports' franchises include the NBA 2K, PGA Tour 2K and WWE 2K series. 2K recently released TopSpin 2K25. All of these games feature real leagues, competitions and players. These games continue to sell well today despite many of the product lines being over a decade old, and receive, for the most part, consistently good reviews.

With 2K & EA Sports' domination and many sports leagues carrying exclusive licences, the North American sports video game market has become very difficult to enter; competing games in any of the above genres, with the exception of racing games, tend to be unsuccessful. This has led to a sharp drop in sports-themed titles over recent years especially with arcade titles. One of the most notable exceptions is Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer series, which is often hailed as an alternative to the FIFA series, but does not contain as many licensed teams, players, kits, or competitions. Another deviation from the norm is Sony's MLB The Show series, which now has a monopoly on the baseball genre after the withdrawal of 2K after MLB 2K13. Racing games, due to the variation that the sport can offer in terms of tracks, cars and styles, offer more room for competition and the selection of games on offer has been considerably greater (examples being F1 and the World Rally Championship, and many unlicensed games). Sports management games, while not as popular as they used to be, live on through small and independent software development houses. Management titles today have transitioned to the very popular fantasy sports leagues, which are available through many websites such as Yahoo. Independent developers are also creating sports titles like Super Mega Baseball, The Golf Club, and Freestyle2: Street Basketball.

Nintendo has been able to make an impact upon the sports market by producing several Mario-themed titles, such as Mario Sports Mix, Mario Golf: Super Rush, Mario Sports Superstars, Mario Tennis Aces, and Mario Strikers: Battle League. These titles sell respectfully, but are only available on Nintendo's video game consoles, for example GameCube, Nintendo 64, Nintendo 3DS, Wii, Wii U and Nintendo Switch.

title: Sports video game


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Lamport, Buckinghamshire

Lamport (occasionally also Langport) was a hamlet in the parish of Stowe in north Buckinghamshire, England. It was cleared by the Temple family, as a result of enclosures, after 1739, to improve the amenity value of their new park at Stowe. The hamlet's name is Old English, meaning long town.

History
Lamport consisted of two ancient manors, one of which was owned by the priory of Oseney and passed to Stowe; the other seems to have belonged to Luffield Abbey, whose estate had passed, by 1350, to a family named after the hamlet, and subsequently passed by marriage, in 1416, to the Dayrells (whose name continues in the village name of Lillingstone Dayrell). It was annexed to Stowe to provide homes for the staff and servants of the new manor house there.

In 1637, Peter Temple enclosed land around Lamport for his deer park. This aggrieved the Dayrells, who owned some of the enclosed land. A dispute, occasionally violent, ensued and eventually led to litigation in 1640 and a petition to Parliament. Notwithstanding the Dayrells' resistance, the village's continued to be enclosed and it was abandoned sometime after 1739.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Lamport, Buckinghamshire


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Utah Saints

Utah Saints are an English electronic music duo consisting of members Jez Willis and Tim Garbutt. The band had three top-ten and another five top-40 singles on the UK Singles Chart in the 1990s, as well as number-one dance tracks in the UK and US. They were notable for pioneering use of sampling technology, in particular, their practice of manipulating samples from mainstream pop, rock, R&B and soul songs and combining them with contrasting dance beats, using the samples in a new context. The band wrote, produced and mixed all of their own music. The duo were joined on stage by additional musicians when they played live from 1991 to 2001. They were one of the first electronic groups to play as a live collective and supported both the Shamen and U2 live at 10 stadium shows. Since then the duo have performed live sets themselves.

Utah Saints ran clubs from 1988 to 1994, particularly Ricky's and The Gallery (later the Pleasure Rooms). They booked new DJs, including Pete Tong, Carl Cox, Paul Oakenfold, Sasha, Justice, Annie Mac and Zane Lowe. They then ran their own Sugarbeat club night from 1998 to 2010 in Leeds, Edinburgh and London, booking a diverse range of acts such as Soulwax, Erol Alkan, Felix Da Housecat, Zane Lowe, Annie Mac and Tiga. They continue to book electronic acts and DJs, curating a stage at Beatherder Festival for three days every year since 2007.

They had five further UK top 40 singles including a top 10 between 2000 and 2012, and continue to produce music, DJ in clubs and at festivals, promote nights, curate festival stages and write music for film, trailers and games.

Biography
Utah Saints were described as "the first true stadium house band" by the KLF's Bill Drummond, though their music is difficult to place into one genre. The dance group originally met as music promoters and DJs for the Mix Nightclub in Harrogate in the early 1990s. They began as MDMA (Mega Dance Metal Allegiance), featuring two former The Cassandra Complex members Jez Willis and Keith Langley, along with Bobby Rae and guitarist Martin Scott. Willis started The Utah Saints with the addition of Tim Garbutt - Langley played the drums with the band in the early days and has provided artwork and photography for a number of their releases.

They first had chart success under the name Utah Saints with the singles "What Can You Do For Me" (UK No. 10), "Something Good" (their biggest UK success at No. 4) and "Believe in Me", a UK No. 8 chart hit, which they described as their vocal sample trilogy. "What Can You Do For Me" featured samples from Eurythmics' "There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)" and Gwen Guthrie's "Ain't Nothin' Goin' on But the Rent". "Something Good" heavily sampled Kate Bush's "Cloudbusting" and "Believe in Me" was based on "Love Action" by Human League and "You Gave Me Love" by Crown Heights Affair. The fourth single "I Want You" was based around a sample from the Slayer song "War Ensemble".

Contrary to rumours, the band were not sued by Kate Bush over the use of a sample from Bush's track "Cloudbusting", in the Utah Saints track "Something Good" – the sample was legally cleared before use. Additionally, Bush sold Utah Saints footage from the video of her original song. This track, with new vocals by the singer and actress Davina Perera, experienced a revival in the clubs in 2008 and reached No. 1 on UK Dance Chart. The track featured new remixes by Van She, High Contrast, Prok & Fitch, eSquire, Ian Carey and more.

Utah Saints then moved away from vocal samples with singles such as "I Want You" (sampling thrash metal band Slayer) and "I Still Think of You" (Jez Willis providing original vocals on both). The latter was on the soundtrack to the film Shopping and DJ Tim briefly appears in the film Utah Saints also had three songs — "Hands Up", "Techknowledgy" and "Sick" — featured in the hit video game Carmageddon TDR2000. Their song "Sick" was included on the 2002 PlayStation 2 soundtrack Wipeout Fusion. Another single, "Power To The Beats" featured on the FIFA 2001 football game.

After their debut album, the self-titled Utah Saints, and one further single "Ohio", which was based around samples from the Jocelyn Brown song "Somebody Else's Guy" and "That's The Way I Like It" by KC & the Sunshine Band, Utah Saints seemed to disappear for several years. They were busy doing remixes (for artists including Blondie, The Human League, Hawkwind, Simple Minds, James, Annie Lennox and The Osmonds and the theme to the 1995 movie Mortal Kombat), and producing tracks for other artists such as Terrorvision. During this time, they recorded an album that was to be called 'Wired World' but was never released, and produced a handful of tracks that have not been released, with titles such as "Star", "Train" and "Rock".

The Utah Saints then took a break, saying that they stopped before they got into a vicious cycle of people expecting them to come up with hits, and instead write music they wanted to hear. Garbutt toured the United States with Orbital, Moby and Aphex Twin, whilst Willis appeared on the dance music radio station Kiss 105 in Yorkshire, hosting a popular Sunday night show on the history of dance music.

They reappeared in late 1999 with charting singles "Love Song" and "Funky Music Sho' 'Nuff Turns Me On" (featuring Edwin Starr on guest vocals), plus "Power to the Beats" and "Lost Vagueness" (featuring Chrissie Hynde). They also issued the album, Two, which included samples from Michael Stipe from R.E.M., Joyce Sims, and a track with a sample from Metallica - the first time a sample had been cleared by the band, with featured vocals by Chuck D from Public Enemy, and Edwin Starr

In 2000, Utah Saints did the soundtrack for the video game Carmageddon TDR2000 along with "Power to the Beats" being featured on FIFA 2001. In 2001, they supported Feeder on the second leg of their UK tour with a DJ set. In 2002, they went quiet again, resurfacing in 2008 with a single release.

They have been working on projects under other names, such as BeatVandals, as well as developing their regular Leeds and Edinburgh-based club night 'SugarBeatClub'. They opened a new recording studio on the outskirts of Leeds with fellow Leeds DJs and producers Riley & Durrant in 2008.

In 2007, their hit "Something Good" was remixed by Australian producers Van She. Originally a bootleg, the Utah Saints approved it and facilitated a re-record with a new vocal performance, overseeing final production and edits. It was signed to the Ministry of Sound record label, who released it in January 2008, where it reached No. 8 in the UK chart – their second biggest chart success, behind the original version of "Something Good". The video for "Something Good 08" featured people doing the "running man" dance that was originally performed by MC Hammer. The track was the most played single in 2008 on BBC Radio 1.

Released on iTunes on 11 January 2009 was the Utah Saints' club mix of Girls Aloud's "The Loving Kind". In November 2009, the band produced a remix of the Liverpool-based dance duo Killaflaw's "Set Me on Fire". This formed part of Killaflaw's third single and was made available digitally in December of that year. Utah Saints remixed the band "Bring Me The Horizon" the same year.

In August 2010, Utah Saints announced the launch of a new record label called Sugarbeat. The first release was Santero's "Drop the Bomb". Utah Saints played the Together Winter Music Festival in London at the Alexandra Palace on 26 November 2010. Then went to play Beat-Herder festival, on the Toiltrees stage, in 2012.

In 2012, "What Can You Do For Me" was remixed by drum and bass duo Drumsound & Bassline Smith. Utah Saints then added to the remix and the track became a collaboration, received airplay, entered the top 10 on the dance chart and the top 30 in the national chart. Hervé and Tantrum Desire provided new 2012 remixes for the song, the remix by Herve was made to sound like a remix of the original 1990s single, so Herve cut out the new material performed by Drumsound & Bassline Smith. "What Can You Do For Me" peaked at No. 28 on the UK Singles Chart. It was included on the 2012 edition of Ministry of Sound's Addicted To Bass series. The Cut-Up Boys mashed up "What Can You Do For Me" with "Midnight Run" by Example and Feed Me.

In 2015, Utah Saints released one copy of a work in progress track titled "Swansong D'Amour" which was played on BBC by Mistajam.

Utah Saints revealed on Twitter in October 2021 that they captured crowd noises from fans celebrating the Toronto Blue Jays victory during the 1992 World Series over the Atlanta Braves. The band says they captured these sounds and incorporated them into performance.

Band members

 * Tim Garbutt – born 6 January 1969, London
 * Jez Willis – born 14 August 1968, Brampton, Carlisle, Cumberland

title: Utah Saints


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Beats International

Beats International were a British dance music band and hip-hop collective, formed in the late 1980s by Norman Cook (later in his career known as Fatboy Slim) based in Brighton, East Sussex, England, after his departure from the Housemartins.

A loose confederation of musicians, the line-up also included vocalist Lindy Layton, former North of Cornwallis vocalist Lester Noel, rappers DJ Baptiste (The Crazy MC), MC Wildski and keyboardist Andy Boucher. Unusually, the band's live line-up also incorporated a graffiti artist, REQ, who painted designs on a backdrop while the musicians played.

Biography
After having a few small hits under his own name such as "Blame It on the Bassline", a 1989 hip-house crossover single featuring MC Wildski, and "For Spacious Lies" with Lester Noel, Cook decided that further releases would be under the collective name "Beats International" - just one of the names he went on to use in the 1990s.

Beats International's debut studio album, Let Them Eat Bingo included these solo hits and the original version of "Won't Talk About It" which featured Billy Bragg singing in a soulful falsetto. The album also spawned the UK number-one single "Dub Be Good to Me", a re-working of the SOS Band's chart-topper "Just Be Good to Me", based on a sample of the bassline from the Clash's "Guns of Brixton". This song was the first to be credited under the Beats International name and featured sometime actor Layton on vocals.

The collective followed their number-one single with a re-recorded version of "Won't Talk About It", which replaced Billy Bragg's vocal with that of Layton and Noel, and "Burundi Blues", a track which featured samples of Bessie Jones, the Thrashing Doves and, on the album version, Brian Cant's introduction from Camberwick Green.

The second Beats International album was 1991's Excursion on the Version, which featured a greater use of dub and reggae sounds, but failed to repeat the success of its predecessor. This was the final Beats International recording, with Cook next going on to form Freak Power.

Norman Cook singles
Note: these singles are from "Let Them Eat Bingo" and would be re-credited to Beats International on this album.

Samples list

 * Let Them Eat Bingo
 * "Burundi Dub"
 * "Thank You for Talkin' to Me Africa" by Sly & The Family Stone / bassline
 * "Dub Be Good to Me"
 * "Just Be Good to Me" by The SOS Band
 * "The Guns of Brixton" by The Clash / bassline
 * "Blame It on the Bassline"
 * "Get into Something" by Isley Brothers / phrase "Come on now / give the drummer some"
 * "Won't Talk About It"
 * "Thank You Mr. DJ" by Silver Convention / intro
 * "Levi Stubbs Tears" by Billy Bragg / guitar
 * "Dance to the Drummer's Beat"
 * "Dance to the Drummer's Beat" by Herman Kelly & Life
 * "Tribute to King Tubby"
 * "Unwind Yourself" by Marva Whitney / saxophone in beginning

 * Excursion on the Version
 * "Echo Chamber"
 * "Could You Be Loved" by Bob Marley & The Wailers

title: Beats International


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Jesse Douglas

Jesse Douglas (3 July 1897 – 7 September 1965) was an American mathematician and Fields Medalist known for his general solution to Plateau's problem.

Life and career
He was born to a Jewish family in New York City, the son of Sarah (née Kommel) and Louis Douglas. He attended City College of New York as an undergraduate, graduating with honors in Mathematics in 1916. He then moved to Columbia University as a graduate student, obtaining a PhD in mathematics in 1920.

Douglas was one of two winners of the first Fields Medals, awarded in 1936. He was honored for solving, in 1930, the problem of Plateau, which asks whether a minimal surface exists for a given boundary. The problem, open since 1760 when Lagrange raised it, is part of the calculus of variations and is also known as the soap bubble problem. Douglas also made significant contributions to the inverse problem of the calculus of variations. The American Mathematical Society awarded him the Bôcher Memorial Prize in 1943.

Douglas later became a full professor at the City College of New York (CCNY), where he taught until his death. At the time CCNY only offered undergraduate degrees and he taught the advanced calculus course.

title: Jesse Douglas


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S'Express

S'Express (pronounced ess-express; sometimes spelled S'Xpress or S-Express) were a British dance music act from the late 1980s, who had one of the earliest commercial successes in the acid house genre.

"Theme from S'Express", which contained elements from Rose Royce's "Is It Love You're After", was one of the earliest recordings to capitalize on the emergence of sampling culture. The song went to number one in the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in April 1988. It made the Hot Dance Club Play chart in the US (also scraping into the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at number 91). In 2016 Mark Moore released a remix album called Enjoy This Trip which retooled S’Express’s music for the 21st century through working with guests such as Punks Jump Up and Chris & Cosey.

Biography
The main player in the act was disc jockey and producer Mark Moore. In 1989, the group released its debut album, Original Soundtrack, which featured a line-up of Moore, Pascal Gabriel, Jocasta, Mark D, Linda Love, and Michellé. The album consisted of slightly longer versions of S-Express's "Theme", its follow-up hits "Superfly Guy" (UK No. 5) and a cover version of Sly and the Family Stone's "Hey Music Lover" (UK No. 6; its b-side was remixed by minimalist composer Philip Glass).

By the release of the second album Intercourse, the act was reduced to a duo of Moore with new vocalist and DJ Sonique. Although not as successful as its debut, Intercourse spawned several mid-charting UK singles and club hits, including "Nothing to Lose", co-written with Martin Gordon, as were several other tunes on the record. Sonique, already a successful DJ, eventually embarked on a solo career and produced one of the biggest club hits of the late 1990s ("It Feels So Good"). Moore went on to release many singles, remixes and albums on his own and also formed the band Needledust.

title: S'Express


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List of sultans of Brunei

The Sultan of Brunei is the monarchical head of state of Brunei and head of government in his capacity as prime minister of Brunei. Since independence from the British in 1984, only one sultan has reigned, though the royal institution dates back to the 14th century. The Sultan of Brunei can be thought of as synonymous with the ruling House of Bolkiah, with generations being traced from the first sultan, Muhammad Shah, temporarily interrupted by the thirteenth sultan, Abdul Hakkul Mubin, who in turn was deposed by a member of the House of Bolkiah. The sultan's full title is His Majesty The Sultan and Yang di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.

His Majesty The Sultan’s Flight
The Sultan has a private fleet of VIP aircraft since 1979. consisting of Boeing 747-8(V8-BKH) Boeing 767-200 (V8-MHB) and Boeing 787-8 (V8-OAS), as well as helicopters such as Sikorsky S70 and S76.

The aircraft fleet are not part of the nation’s Air Force. Other than the 747-8, the other two aircraft sport Royal Brunei Airlines colours.

Uncertainties
The earliest historical record of the Sultans of Brunei is not clearly known due to the poor early documentation of Brunei history. In addition there has been an effort to Islamise the history, with the "official history" not matching up with verifiable foreign sources The Batu Tarsilah - the genealogical record of the kings of Brunei - was not started until 1807. Therefore, much of the interpretation of history relied on earlier Chinese sources and legends. It seems that the early Sultanate of Brunei was dependent on Chinese support, and perhaps early Sultans were of Chinese origin. Furthermore, the earliest Sultans may have been practicing the Hindu or Buddhist religions, with early names indicating this origin.

title: List of sultans of Brunei


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Kwaito

Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa, between the late 1980s and 1990s. It is a variant of house music that features the use of African sounds and samples. Kwaito songs occur at a slower tempo range than other styles of house music and often contain catchy melodic and percussive loop samples, deep bass lines, and vocals. Despite its similarities to hip hop music, kwaito has a distinctive manner in which the lyrics are sung, rapped and shouted.

Etymology
The word kwaito is an Isicamtho term from the Gauteng townships and encompasses styles that range from guz, d'gong, and isgubhu to swaito. The word originates from the Afrikaans kwaai, which, when used as a slang term, is the equivalent of the English term hot.

Kwaito led a post-Apartheid township subculture into the mainstream. Despite the fact that the Afrikaans language is associated with the apartheid regime and racial oppression, Afrikaans words are often drawn into the Isicamtho vocabulary, reshaped and used in a related or new context. M'du Masilela - a pioneering kwaito artist, said, "When house music got popular, people from the ghetto called it Kwaito after the Afrikaans slang word kwai [sic], meaning those house tracks were hot, that they were kicking." Another Isicamtho word derived from the Afrikaans word kwaai is amakwaitosi, which means gangster. The popular kwaito artist and producer Arthur Mafokate describes the relationship between kwaito and gangsterism as music revolving around ghetto life.

History
In the backdrop of a transforming South Africa, kwaito took shape in the Soweto township at the same time Nelson Mandela took office as the first democratically elected president of South Africa. The removal of the political and economic sanctions greatly transformed the South African music industry.

individuals deemed pivotal to the innovation and advancement of the genre were Arthur Mafokate, Trompies, Mdu Masilela and Brothers of Peace (B.O.P). Boom Shaka, Mandoza, Oskido and Brown Dash.

One of the first kwaito singles to become a hit in South Africa was the song "Kaffir" by Arthur Mafokate, which illustrated the freedom of expression resulting from political liberation in South Africa. House music arrived in Cape Town in the early 1990s at raves such as the World Peace Party and in the original venue Club Eden, and later Euphoria and DV8. This spread northward, where, in the mid-1990s, the genre became popular in Johannesburg clubs such as 4th World, and local artists fused its sound with that of South African music. Arthur Mafokate, Oskido, Boom Shaka, and Mdu Masilela were among the first artists to produce a huge kwaito hit and popularize it in and outside of the Black townships.

Newfound freedom gave South African musicians easier access to international works and a greater ability to freely express themselves. As a result, kwaito has also been known as the expression of this new freedom, and many anti-apartheid chants have been used as lyrics for kwaito songs. Kwaito has been called the music that defines the generation who came of age after apartheid. Its pulsing dance beat evolved from styles such as marabi, mbaqanga, township pop, dancehall, as well as house and disco.

Schools in the townships were unable to fund programs such as music classes to enhance the learning experience of their students. As kwaito did not require a formal knowledge of music theory, large spaces to rehearse, and expensive instruments, it was easily accessible to individuals in these downtrodden communities.

As kwaito became increasingly mainstream in South Africa, collaborations, such as between South African R&B artists Danny K and Mandoza, have become more common. Kwaito hits often attract a bit of media attention, as Arthur's August 2005 release "Sika Lekhekhe" (a Zulu phrase literally meaning "Cut this cake" and figuratively "Have sex with me") did. The song was banned by a SABC radio station and Arthur had to reshoot its video after several complaints from viewers who were offended by its sexually suggestive content. Similarly, the kwaito band Boom Shaka was widely criticized by the political establishment for its rendition of the national anthem to a kwaito beat. As much as it was started and popularized by Johannesburg based artists. In Durban, KwaZulu Natal Sandy B came with his album AmaJovi Jovi in 1994 which had to be the big national hit and the first kwaito album from that province.

The kwaito industry is growing fast and is becoming increasingly competitive. Popular artists include Zola, Mandoza, Trompies, Mzekezeke, Brown Dash, Mahoota, Spikiri, Mzambiya, Chippa, Msawawa, Mshoza, Thembi Seite, Thandiswa Mazwai, Brikz, TKZee, Unathi, and the late Brenda Fassie. The kwaito stars in South Africa are seen as celebrities who influence the culture, language, and economy of the nation in ways that were impossible during the years of governmentally imposed segregation.

TS, Ghetto Ruff, Kalawa Jazmee, and Bulldogs are the main recording companies that have discovered kwaito musicians. Jam Alley is a South African talent show that has been a venue for many young kwaito artists like Mandoza, Mzambiya, and Zola, as well as other pop stars. Some kwaito artists have even transcended a musical career. Zola, for instance, hosted a talk show called Zola 7 on SABC1.

The globalized music industry influenced the cultural evolution that was to generate kwaito. A popular import from the US and the UK, hip hop trickled through the music scene in South Africa, particularly amongst colored people, who began to identify with an American construct of Blackness, as well as strong parallels between the hardship experienced in the many poor neighborhoods of South Africa and the ghettos of New York out of which American hip hop grew. Local flavors and additives gradually started dominating the local take on hip hop, and so kwaito started taking shape. The development of the genre and other local sounds was given an enormous boost with one of the ANC's first legislative acts to dramatically increase the number of private radio stations in South Africa and regulate local music quotas of 20–40 percent. As a result of this, exposure to local music, and in particular kwaito, expanded dramatically, which made it very popular.

Global media corporations own the distribution rights of much of the music in South Africa, yet market it specifically to the local youth.

Politics
While many assert kwaito's apolitical character, it is worthwhile to note that a refusal to deal with the contemporary realm of politics is an extremely political statement that denounces the political status quo. In the words of Rastafarian teacher Leachim Tufani Semaj, "Whether you deal with politics or not, politics will deal with you. The statement that one does not deal in politics is in effect a political statement." Kwaito is often thought of as a means of recreation and escapism as a genre that looks to the future instead of to the past. While apartheid is no longer in place, South Africa continues to be riddled with social problems that demand to be addressed in the realm of culture creation. HIV/AIDS and the increase in violent crimes since the end of apartheid are among the problems facing the youth of South Africa. In other words, the absence of apartheid-related subject material in kwaito songs should not be seen as an absence of a political awareness and activism but rather as a shift in socio-political focus. Kwaito artist OscarwaRona recalls, "We used to do tracks where we would ask why is the divorce rate so high? Why are little children being found in shabeens drinking?" The aftermath of a system of racial subjugation that was in place for centuries is equally demanding of attention as the atrocities that occurred during apartheid.

Many have noted that the lyrics of kwaito songs are apolitical because it mostly helps to create dance-oriented music. The listeners had pointed out that in many cases, kwaito songs use catchy phrases. Gavin Steingo gave an example in his article "South African music after Apartheid: kwaito, the 'party politic,' and the appropriation of gold as a sign of success" by saying that there was not a political view in the first song of Mandoza's album because Godoba kept repeating "Cyborg/Move Your Skeleton" throughout the whole song. On the other hand, according to Simone Swink's article "Kwaito: much more than music", it is impossible to talk about kwaito music without referencing the political history of South Africa. He notes that kwaito music started with the first democratically elected president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. He continues saying that it was very hard for Black South African artists to get signed in the music business before. Gavin Steingo stated that most kwaito is overtly political, even if it seems like it is not. He said that it was more of anti-political situation for the artist than apolitical because the youth of South Africa desire to disengage from the long years of oppression and political protest of the apartheid era. Therefore, kwaito music represents the refusal of politics. It has also been noted that there are some kwaito songs that reflect an artist's political view because there are some artists (e.g Zola) that rhyme, chant, or sing about explicitly political and ideological issues. However, there are cases when people say kwaito that they refer only to the apolitical variety.

Characteristics
This genre of music started emerging in the 1980s. It is a mixture of a number of different rhythms from marabi of the 1920s, kwela of the 1950s, mbaqanga/maskhandi of the hostel dwellers, bubblegum music of the 1980s, and Imibongo (African praise poetry). Great South African musicians such as Miriam Makeba and Brenda Fassie have influenced kwaito. At times the use of styles drawn from the African diaspora's hip hop, dub, jazz and UK house is evident.

The kwaito sound originated from the use of European instruments that Black African laborers had at their disposal after gold was found in Johannesburg. Another common characteristic is the dialogue between a man and a woman with the woman largely repeating the man's lines. It is predominantly dance music with light subject matter. Kwaito is also usually not sung, but is usually rhythmic speech.

Kwaito performances require the audience to interact through verbal responses. This is done in a call-and-response manner. The artist engages the listener, who in turn listens attentively and responds when required. It is also sung in one of South Africa's languages, which include Afrikaans, Zulu, and English. This makes it even more popular with its audience.

Instrumentally, kwaito music is easily recognized for its use of slowed-down house-music beats, with the kick drum emphasizing each beat in the 4/4 time signature, which is commonly called four-on-the-floor. Although it draws its most noticeable characteristics from house music, kwaito also draws upon the musical landscape that was popular in South Africa during the early 1990s, which included disco, hip-hop, and contemporary R&B, among other genres.

One characteristic that still is up for debate is whether or not to consider kwaito a mainly South African phenomenon. While many believe that it is a distinctly home-grown style of popular dance music that is rooted in Johannesburg urban culture and features rhythmically recited vocals over an instrumental backing with strong bass lines, it is still argued whether or not this is actually true because of how recently the music has hit the scene and some of the inspirations from which it is gathered. The debate is that it is largely influenced by music types from the United States or the United Kingdom. Therefore, some people believe, even though the roots of it are based in the movements by Mandela and the upheaval at the time, that it is not fully of South African origin. We can see the influence that American hip hop music has had on kwaito most visibly in the use of gold as a symbol of power. Kwaito artists will wear gold and diamonds, completely ignoring its gruesome history and connection to South Africa, in order to portray a rags-to-riches story like many hip hop artists do. Consumption of gold and diamonds, while at the same time saying you represent your people, is very similar to the problematic rhymes of many American hip hop artists who glorify the drug trade but claim that they want to improve the living standards in their communities. Furthermore, many kwaito artists would sell their records out of the trunk of their cars, a long-honored underground form of selling records that was common among many fledgling hip hop artists.

It is also important to incorporate the attitude that kwaito musicians have. Many critics have a very biased and Western point of view on the genre. Kwaito rose from a ghetto culture, and most critics always look at kwaito in a cultural-studies context rather than looking at the ethnomusicology side. What makes kwaito stick out is the fact that the music is always associated with a cultural context that brings out some extra meanings and messages. Furthermore, kwaito is considered by some critics as the aggressive township music. In South Africa, some kwaito music producers say that the genre is comparable to hip hop; it is only comparable because it has become more than just a genre of music but rather a movement in which people can create their own identities with their own values.

As Thokozani Mhlambi states in his article Kwaitofabulous, "In kwaito music, the emphasis lies not in the poetic essence of the lyrics but rather in the instrumental arrangement and the 'danceability' of the composition. Therefore I disagree with writers such as Maria McCloy, the author of Kwaito: Its History and Where It's at Now, who criticize kwaito, claiming that very little time and effort is put into kwaito production.... This criticism overlooks the music's multiple social contexts such as parties, street bashes, and clubs. These are social venues where people are more in pursuit of leisure than engaging in intellectual discourse." Not only does kwaito resist a sense of Western based oppression by remaining apolitical, but it also resists trends and Western influence in and of itself via mode of production. Kwaito, as Mhlambi affirms, has remained the music of its people, which is the music of the South African youth after the struggle who wish to pursue rest and relaxation as opposed to dwelling on the past. The term kwaito is a clear sign that oppression is not something to be, or that will be forgotten. The danceability and poetry inherent to kwaito, however, shows a reversion to better times—to cultural integrity. Through kwaito music, artists and youths collaborate to create, through music and dance, a realm where the struggle does not exist.

Impact and cultural significance
Kwaito is a form of self-expression and a way of life—it is the way many South Africans dress, speak, and dance. It is a street style as lifestyle, where the music reflects life in the townships, much the same way hip hop reflects life in the American ghetto. As a result, the growth of kwaito in post-Apartheid South Africa has changed not only the music scene but many urban cultural aspects as well. Similar to the usage of slang in American hip-hop, kwaito artists often sing in a mixture of languages, including English, Zulu, Sesotho, and Isicamtho, which is slang spoken in the townships. Additionally, as it is largely driven by youth growing up in the post-apartheid era, kwaito “represents music ‘after the struggle’ [and] the term ‘kwaito’ also refers to a whole youth culture complete with vernacular and fashion norms,” according to Gavin Steingo. The fashion industry has boomed all over the country, with urban apparel designers such as Stoned Cherrie, Loxion Kulca, and Sun Godd'ess setting trends based on those trends emphasized by kwaito artists. YFM, a youth radio station launched in Gauteng in 1997, has become the most widely listened to urban youth radio station in the country, adhering to the principle of giving the youth the license to create its own identity. After having been rejected by major record labels of the apartheid era, many independent kwaito labels emerged such as Kalawa, Triple 9, and Mdu Music. These labels produced myriad employment opportunities for young Black producers, engineers, and attorneys in the music industry and, more importantly, has provided young Black people with a source of financial gain and dignity. Furthermore, kwaito has strengthened social integration. While promoting South Africa internationally through successful overseas tours by artists such as Bongo Maffin, Tkzee, and Boomshaka, kwaito has gained a huge following with older Black people who grew up on protest songs, as demonstrated by President Thabo Mbeki when he performed the S'guqa dance with kwaito artist Mzekezeke during his song "S'guqa ngamadolo" at the 2003 Freedom day celebrations. This marked a huge change in the way people envisioned kwaito, engendering a more widespread commercial audience.

There has been ongoing debate as to whether kwaito is a form of South African hip hop, or if the music is in its own unique category. There are many ways to evaluate this according to researcher Sharlene Swartz who says that in addition to the musical attributes of kwaito, it is important to look at production, consumption and culture. While some say that kwaito is a form of hip hop, Schwartz (and many native South Africans) argue that instead, kwaito is to black South Africans as hip hop has been to African Americans. In her article Is Kwaito South African Hip Hop? Swartz clarifies that "kwaito, like hip hop has become more than music... it provides youth with the means for creating an identity, establishing new societal norms and economic opportunities." Additionally, the kwaito artist Zola alludes to the idea that kwaito is a native South African genre in the documentary Sharp Sharp! when she explains how Kwaito is a combination of music that comes from ancient Nigerian drumming patterns and poetry that comes from the streets of the township. She ultimately parallels the kwaito movement to the hip hop movement and others by saying "I'm fighting the same struggle my brothers in the states and all over the world are fighting."

Mhlambi's Kwaitofabulous highlights that hip hop and kwaito are both genres of the African Diaspora, yet he points out their similarities do not provide a causal relationship between the two. Yes, both cultures grew out of black oppression by whites, and in a world where consumer culture has reached a global level, kwaito cannot claim to be completely free of hip hop's influence. On the other hand, kwaito is unique due to its integration of African language and instruments, and most importantly because of the distinctly South African political, social and economic conditions in which kwaito was born. A Newsweek report claims kwaito is South Africa's answer to hip hop music, and is different for it incorporates a slowed down house beat with jazz, blues, R&B and reggae. The title of a report on CNN.com, "Kwaito: South Africa's hip-hop?", calls a relationship between the two genres into question, and only likens them because both music styles have their own subcultures.

The development of kwaito has had a significant impact on South African culture and economy. It has become mainstreamed and features in everything from television and radio to fashion. Half of the South African population is under 21 years of age; therefore, youth culture is very important to the nation's economic prosperity. Kwaito provides an opportunity for the nation's youth to produce and sell something they enjoy all the meanwhile making a profit. This can especially be seen in the fashion industry where several Kwaito clothing lines have emerged including Stoned Cherrie and Black Coffee Label. When Kwaito first emerged in the early 1990s, "the look" was based around street threads and floppy Kangol hats. Today it is a blend of black urban style and modern influences.

Though there is a fear of gimmicky marketing and loss of authenticity in the Kwaito music industry, this will not occur so long as the industry remains controlled by the South African youth. Kwaito did come from the first black owned record companies in South Africa. The music will continue to be profitable to the country as a whole as well as the people as long as it remains a voice for the emerging middle class.

Kwaito music, in its most popular form, has made a statement by expressing the shift in interest by South African Youth taking an apolitical stance in the post-apartheid era. In a sense by rejecting and negating politics, they were making a political statement. However, the overwhelming message that is being expressed in the music and culture surrounding Kwaito is one of just wanting to have fun. This new sentiment portrays the desire of South African youth to diverge from the years of oppression and disempowerment under apartheid laws. The fading of these apartheid laws permits them to "spend a night in a club rather than under a curfew". Therefore, the lyrics of many popular kwaito songs focus on dancing and reflect the attitude of having fun for the sake of having fun, rather than engaging in the political issues of the time.

The apolitical stance of kwaito, however, has been seen by older generation South Africans as a sign of South African youth losing touch with important political struggles that have occurred in the country. As a result, these critics of kwaito claim that kwaito is losing its purpose (which is to speak out against the injustices that are occurring South Africa.) Artists of kwaito, however, claim that the time has come to use kwaito as a vehicle to celebrate the freedom South Africans have attained, leaving artists free to sing about other matters that are important to South African youth. Apolitical kwaito in this sense, relates to hip-hop as it is now: a form of entertainment. Though hip-hop from America has enjoyed international success and has been embraced by Africans, kwaito has yet to gain recognition in the U.S., arguably, because of the language. Though Kwaito’s initial main language was Tsotsitaal, it’s now performed in several different South African languages. The choice of language is important to reception, especially in places such as the townships around Cape Town, where not everyone speaks English, as using the language can make an artist seem “bourgeois.” However, some artists use English purposely to reach beyond South Africa and gain more global appeal. Spoek Mathambo finds that the use of South African languages is what defines kwaito. As he says, he doesn’t “know if kwaito can be in English. That’s kind of an important factor.” As Steingo argues, contemporary kwaito “consistently thwarts any simple identification with ethnicity, language, or social position.” The language of kwaito (a mix of Zulu, Afrikaan, and Xhosa) gives a Kwaito a sound that sounds "messy" or unlike "mainstream party music". As a result, Kwaito remains most likely to be heard in South Africa.

Record sales
In a country where nearly half the population are under 21, youth culture exerts a major influence on social life. South Africa has a population of over 40 million; 75% are black and many are living in the ghetto. It's these youth especially who lay claim to kwaito. Their stories sparked it, and the post-apartheid economy gave them the chance to produce and sell it. Kwaito cries out to impoverished youths in the ghetto and has given young black artists a chance to shine. Today, South Africans are buying kwaito albums in record numbers. Record numbers are insignificant compared to the United States record sales. Selling 25,000 CDs in South Africa means an album has gone "gold," as opposed to the 500,000 record sales it takes to go gold in the United States. Some of the heavy hitters of kwaito have sold over 100,000 records, making them major players in the South African music industry.

Record producers
The DJ aspect of Kwaito is extremely popular. Famous kwaito DJs—such as DJ Oskido, Spikiri, DJ Rudeboy Paul, DJ Mjava, and DJ Cleo—are well known for producing many of the big Hip-Hop South African Artists. Many of these DJ's in Kwaito release their own albums after producing other famous musicians in South Africa. The majority of them do not make much money but have very high hopes for the future. DJ Cleo said "All I need is that one chance produce just that one song for any rapper, Jay-Z, Jah Rule, 50 Cents, whatever. And I will kill it. It will become a hit worldwide. Try me. Whoever you're going to play this to, get a hold of me." Very similar to other genres of music, Kwaito wants to stay original and stick close to the roots. DJ cleo is considered one who tries to stay careful not to abandon his kwaito fan base in a flash because many Kwaito fans take abandoning the original tunes as offensive and turning your back on the Kwaito meaning.

According to Rudeboy Paul, "Kwaito is a platform that serves to drive thoughts, ideas, gives kids from the township a voice in which to speak on what their concerns are, social ills happening around them, the fact that they can't find jobs out there, HIV and AIDS awareness as well."

King of kwaito
There are two artists who claim to be the kwaito originators: One is M'du Masilela, who claims he was the first to mix bubble gum with House from the UK and the US back in the 1980s. The other is Arthur Mafokate, who is also credited by some as the king of Kwaito, including himself as he wrote in a two-page piece called "Am I the king of Kwaito?"

The first official kwaito song played in South Africa, done by Mafokate, with the usage of one of the most degrading words that white colonialists would call black Africans, is the Arabic word for 'non-believer' or a 'heathen' which is the word that Afrikaans described the natives with. In his song, Mafokate demands the Boss, 'Nee baas'..;

The song, written in several forms, talked about how apartheid will not just go away overnight but change is coming. His groundwork has created an avenue for South African youth to channel their anger, talent and their voice, an outlet that they can call their own. Through this music the youth were able to express their feelings of oppression. One of the originators of Kwaito, DJ and producer Oskido of B.O.P, has said that it started out as house with small additions to that genre such as congas and other instruments.

Women in kwaito
Kwaito is a largely male-dominated music genre, in regards to the artists as well as the management. But there are a number of female artists that have managed to become quite successful. Brenda Fassie, long time South African pop superstar, quickly adopted a Kwaito style as it surged to popularity in the 1990s. According to Time, she was known both for her diva attitude and scandals involving sex and drugs, but also for lyrics that dealt with complex issues of African culture and life. Lebo Mathosa rose to fame as part of the group Boom Shaka, and later became a solo artist. Despite (or perhaps because of) being sometimes called South Africa's 'wild child' because of her sexually explicit lyrics and dance moves, she gained widespread popularity, and performed at Nelson Mandela's 85th birthday celebration. According to FHM magazine Lebo Mathosa has also performed alongside superstar performers Will Smith and Missy Elliott and has also recorded a duet with R&B star Keith Sweat. In 2004, she was killed in a car crash. Iyaya, formerly of group Abashante, is known for her powerful voice as well as "taking raw, street sexuality to the stage.". Goddess, Venus, Chocolate and Rasta Queen are the four members of the all-female kwaito group Ghetto Luv. They have also adopted an "in your face" sexual style; the cover of their first album You Ain't Gonna Get None displays all four members completely naked.

During the emergence of the kwaito, Boom Shaka emerged as a voice for young women and a symbol of empowerment. They also use sexuality as an expression and celebration of black female bodies and the natural female sexual desires. Therefore Boom Shaka is also politically involved by trying to get women voices heard through recording a new South African anthem that simply says women have the power to change the society. "Kwaito has offered women a new kind of agency in self-representation in post-apartheid South Africa." A CNN article considered Boom Shaka and TKZee the most influential kwaito groups in South African music. Boom Shaka's music is not only popular in South Africa but all around Africa. The group's music represented the voice of young people who are often neglected by governments in post colonial Africa.

Criticism
Kwaito has received criticism. The kwaito music industry is viewed as male-dominated, especially in management. There are few successful female artists. Lebo Mathosa, who was one of kwaito's most famous female artists and a member of Boom Shaka, noted that it is "difficult because every producer that you meet in our country is male there isn't even one female producer that you could say ok I like that record that is produced by so and so." Others accuse kwaito as being talentless, commercialized and mass-produced, consisting of sexually-driven lyrics and dances.

Being male-dominated, kwaito tends to misrepresent women in their lyrics by referencing the body and sexual images. Some kwaito groups like Trompies are using the image of the woman to make a social and political statement. In one of their music videos, there is a beauty contest and the women that win and get all the male attention are all on the heavier side. The group is trying to say that today's perception and definition of beauty does not have to adhere to other cultures' societal standards. Furthermore, more women are entering the kwaito music scene like artist Lesego Bile. She has claimed she enjoys the challenge of entered a male dominated music genre and uses her struggles from her past to help her stay true. She refuses to never exploit her body and dance sexually to please the crowd, like other female artists. She plans on making a strong statement for female artists, while commenting on social issues.

Kwaito has also been criticized in that it has been labeled as the African version of hip hop or an imitator. In Thokozani Mhlambi's article "Kwaitofabulous", he points out various European scholars who have disclaimed the authenticity of hip hop as they believe it to undermine the cultural and historical struggles of the South African people because of Kwaito's similarity with American hip hop. Mhlambi, however, disclaims by pointing out that the Black youth of America and South Africa have faced similar oppressive histories by the white population, and thus makes sense to have its music similar as well. He also points out that the criticism from onlookers from other cultures do not realize how both kwaito and hip hop require performances and music making to be a group process and thus requires collaboration. He believes kwaito and hip hop to have many similarities due to both genre's origins; however, he does not believe kwaito to be a direct descendant of hip hop. Furthermore, many scholars and researchers of the genre, including Gavin Steingo, agree with Mhlambi in that they disclaim the idea that kwaito is purely South African hip hop. Steingo writes in an article titled "South African music after Apartheid: kwaito, the 'party politic,' and the appropriation of gold as a sign of success" that the genre was influenced by both house music and American hip hop, while also drawing on inspiration from ancient African music. Therefore, kwaito cannot be simply the South African version of hip hop. Also, Steingo writes that a version of hip hop music does already exist in the country, and it is not kwaito: "Because of seemingly obvious parallels between African American youth culture and the new Black South African youth culture, people have been inclined to think of kwaito as South African hip hop, or a South African version of hip hop (In 2000, Sterns/Earthworks released a kwaito compilation CD in the UK called Kwaito—South African Hip Hop). It would seem that this perceived familiarity is based primarily on the shared characteristic of rhyming in verse. And, though this is not totally invalid, it should be stated that there is a South African version of hip hop in South Africa and it is not (and has even come into conflict with) kwaito." Additionally, it is difficult to define Kwaito as a type of South African hip hop, as there is an actual emergent hip-hop scene. As kwaito, for the most part, remains apolitical, the hip hop scene, although less popular, generates a more political and gangster-esque style. This difference is described by the South African hip hop group Godessa, "Hip-hop is universal. We were excluded from Kwaito because we cannot understand it. To us, music is not just about dancing, it is a vehicle for us to speak to the masses." Similarly, hip hop is gaining popularity in Johannesburg, kwaito's stomping ground, and its emergence is fostering a rivalry of sorts, further separating the two genres. As Kwaito is more of a mixture of hip hop, disco, and house, the hip hop scene mirrors a more American style of hip-hop.

Regardless of criticism, kwaito music now plays an important and prominent role in South African youth culture.

Cultural context and implications
Kwaito is viewed as a cultural product of the societal norms and historical context of the townships of South Africa. It is both affected by Black South African society and influences the popular culture of Johannesburg, Cape Town, and their surrounding suburbs. Kwaito serves a transmitter of popular fashion, language, and attitude. Kwaito has also been adopted by mainstream advertisers and production companies as a means of addressing the masses and selling products. A combination of the popularity of Kwaito music and the search by transnational marketers for a means of addressing Soweto youth (considered to be popular cultures' trendsetters) has led to the use of Kwaito music as a method for advertising mainstream North American products.

Kwaito acts as a reference point for understanding the social situation and cultural norms of Soweto society. Many songs such as Bantwan by Bob Mabena, "whose lyrics marry consumerism and female objectification" or Isigaga by Prophets of Da City which "expresses the same negative and misogynistic attitudes.". Kwaito also addresses the oppression of black people and the context of colonialism in which they still live. Songs such as Arthur Mafokate's song 'Kaffir' addresses the prevalence of direct racism and Zola's song Mblwembe (problem child) reflects the prevalence of crime in the townships serve as a means of social dialogue. A third way in which a specific aspect black South African Society is reflected by Kwaito is in the dancehall nature of its origins and rhythms. It shows the prevalence of the dancehall in the impoverished townships and flat lands and illustrates the importance of the dancehall as a cultural meeting place. South African Kwaito enthusiast Nhlanhla Sibongile Mafu best articulated the balance between social commentary and recreation when he said, "dancing itself becomes the site for a radical rejection of the traditional struggle lyrics in favour of the liberation of pleasure, while at the same time attempting to use the language of the street to grapple with and articulate the present reality for the man and woman in the streets of the ghetto".

It is said that " ...a repressive society would result in a creative art...it is an ingredient, it acts as a catalyst to a man who is committed." In 1994 apartheid ended in South Africa. Kwaito music in South Africa became a symbol of the new generation of youth; furthermore it was not just music, but it stood for a way of life and associated with it was a way of talk, dance, and dress. Kwaito reflects life for the South African youth in the townships, much in the same manner that American hip hop portrays life in the American ghetto. This type of music seems to be the newly unsilenced voice of the people speaking out freely in their society.

Critics have compared Kwaito to other international subgenres such as Jamaica's dancehall and the UK's grime. Dancehall was founded in the 1950s and '60s right when Jamaicans were trying to gain independence from the British. Similarly Kwaito was formed right after the apartheid was lifted in South Africa, both by young members of the lower class. Additionally both have "taken cues from the trends of new governments that supposedly gave rise to the advancement of personal wealth, and glamorized lifestyles." They also share a number of themes in common including commentary on violence and crime, AIDS awareness, and women's safety.

The commonalities between dancehall and Kwaito are in fact rooted in a deeper relationship between South Africa and Jamaican music. African reggae artists like Côte d'Ivoire's Alpha Blondy and South Africa's own Lucky Dube were popular throughout the continent during apartheid, and Alpha helped shed a negative light on the oppressive regime when he compared apartheid to Nazism. Many currently renowned Kwaito musicians grew up listening to Jamaican music, and Stoan, a member of Bongo Maffin, explained in an interview just how necessary an outlet this kind of music was: the representations of black people imported into the country during apartheid were singularly negative ones, and Jamaican music was one of the few imported forms that celebrated blackness and gave ghettoized black youth in South Africa something to embrace and identify with. As he describes it, "If we had to look at any other example of black people off the continent who have found their essence, it's Jamaicans. For us, for South Africans after the curtain was lifted, after we could see other things besides what was presented to us on television which was blacksploitation [sic.] movies and stuff like that, buffoons, you know the picture of us. Any other picture of a successful black man was him behaving like a caricature of himself. Jamaicans brought another element to a picture we had of us as an out of body experience. Yeah, so I think you'll find that a lot of people, you know, have been touched by the culture, in South Africa, within 10 years."

Similarities have also been raised among kwaito and grime. These genres are based out of the local popularity of dance music, in both the UK and Jamaica. Furthermore they are both offshoots of popular electronic genres: kwaito being an offshoot of house music and dub being a derivative of drum and bass as well as garage. Both of these genres are also becoming increasingly popular in the U.S.

Dances
Kwaito is more than just a music genre. An article posted on CNN.com described kwaito as a whole subculture with a swirl of irresistible dance beats. According to Sonjah Stanley-Niaah in her article "Mapping Black Atlantic Performance Geographies: From Slave Ship to Ghetto," dancing has given kwaito increased appeal. In South Africa, beginning in the 1950s, people go to "shebeens" to listen to music, dance, socialize on the weekends. The dancing girls at these parties, often hosted in houses as opposed to licensed clubs, served as a motivation for men to attend. As kwaito emerged and became the norm of music in the shebeens, its popularity rapidly increased. Boom Shaka, the first kwaito group, was also the first to create and popularize dance moves to accompany kwaito. The steps are said to offer a window into the everyday life of South Africans by building on traditional dance styles from the region. This new dance style has also led to discussion over gender relations. Kwaito dancing has brought on a new type of female display in South Africa. The fact that women dance independently and draw men to them has been redefining the gender boundaries for propriety, work, ethics and morality for the South African population.

Mapantsula is a male-dominated dance that came about in the 1980s representing the lower class culture. This dance includes synchronized movements by large groups of male dancers. Mapantsula was also the title of a 1988 film describing the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. It was the first anti-apartheid film relating to black South Africans. And Bhujwa dancing is also influenced by kwaito/house music, Bhujwa dancing originated in Soweto Jabulani; pioneered by Sphiwe ntini and Skhebstar Makhubu and then the culture eventually spread in Soweto and South Africa.

Kwaito and globalization
The homogenization of kwaito with American rap music, due to globalization, is viewed by kwaito artists as a threat to the preservation of their local South African music credibility. Thus, kwaito artists focus on maintaining an emotional link between customer and brand. This explains why transnational corporations are much less interested in homogenizing or Americanizing kwaito music because true kwaito represents and dictates South African experience. Americanizing kwaito, as is many artists' opinion, can potentially dilute the substance kwaito was originally based on.

title: Kwaito


text:
David Gray

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title: David Gray