Keep Hope Alive

With a career spanning more than two decades, producer, DJ, and record label owner OSKIDO (born Oscar Sibonginkosi Mdlongwa) has been a driving force behind many of South Africa’s musical movements. Best known for his role in the establishment and growth of the kwaito genre, he’s also been instrumental in the careers of many of the country’s biggest acts, including Trompies, Mafikizolo, Bongo Maffin, DJ Zinhle, Black Motion, and Winnie Khmalo. Keep Hope Alive is an aural family tree—as much a showcase of OSKIDO’s evolution through genres as it is a union of generations. Across 20 tracks, he extends the experimental approach he first began on 2021’s Back to the Future EP into a highly collaborative album that blends amapiano with its predecessor, kwaito, tied together by a theme of optimism. “There’s been a huge, dark cloud in the world this past two years,” he tells Apple Music. “I lost my dad. I lost my brother-in-law three months ago because of COVID. I think each and every family worldwide has been touched by this dark cloud which is hanging around. It’s either people are losing jobs, there’s uncertainty where things are going to be—what we need to do to keep the hope alive.”
The album highlights the historic links between kwaito and amapiano. “It’s a journey of all that which I started from, and putting it in one space,” he explains. “It’s an evolution going back to where we started. Where pianos are—it’s what we started long back. It’s the same basslines. It’s only the drum groups that’s changed. If you can listen to the hooks, some of the songs, you can hear that it’s kwaito lyrically. But the good thing is that it has changed. It’s now got chords and all that. You can allow vocalists to be part of the movement.” Here, he shares the background behind key tracks from the album.
“Endulo” (feat. Gee General) “This record talks about how people used to live way back. There weren’t all these borders. People were just free—you could move from any place to any place. It was all about love. There was a moment like that in the world when God created men, and they was just living in peace and harmony. This song features Gee General, who’s an upcoming young artist and people must look out for him—an authentic songwriter. When you listen to this song, it’s like you’re watching a movie. It’s a very subtle track; it’s more spiritual. It puts you in a different mood.”
“What’s Your Story” (feat. AKA & Eugene) “What a special record, written by a young guy called Eugene. I did the music with a guy called Mus Scales. It’s got more of this funk feel. Eugene wrote the lyrics and when we heard the song, we just said, ‘This is a Supa Mega feel, man.’ All we knew was AKA is the only person who can do it. Me and Supa Mega on one record—what can you expect? It’s got that Dr. Dre kind of feeling in terms of the bassline.”
“Imizamo” (feat. Ami Faku & DrumPope) “It's got the piano vibes on it. It’s classic. I went back to the old bassline grooves, which we used to play when we started kwaito. There’s something with Ami when she sings, in terms of her melodies, when she starts expressing them, they actually get into you, spiritually. The warmth of her voice actually drives this track. But most of all, you just need to listen to the message, what she’s talking about. Because it’s also talking about this upliftment to say, ‘Guys, we know we are going through a lot, but all we need to do is that we need to always be faithful. God is with us.’”
“Ayazizela” [OSKIDO & Thandiswa Mazwai] (feat. Ntsika) “I programmed the track. Then from there, the only person I thought was Thandiswa Mazwai. The track talks about ‘Amadoda, ayazizela’: ‘Guys, come to me because of the way God created me as a woman. So, when I’m just moving around, men just come to me.’ But we wanted to balance it out—we need a guy to speak on behalf of the guys. So, we got Ntsika, from The Soil. We also worked on production with young producers, Mus Scales and with X-Wise. The original was a downtempo, loungy kind of track. But Thandiswa said, ‘OSKIDO, we need to take it to the dance floors, man. I know that these yanos are in; let’s move into that, so that the kids can play at the clubs.’”
“Umbane” (feat. Msaki) “‘Umbane,’ it’s talking about lightning and saying, ‘We’re going to strike.’ A lot of people know Msaki as a strict vocalist, the way she writes. But this one is full of fun. It surprised a lot of people—Msaki can go on this vibe. So, it’s more for the dance floor.”
“Banky Banky” (feat. Niniola) “I’ve always wanted to work with Nini, from when I had her on this ‘Maradona’ record. It’s a more midtempo groove, but you can hear it’s got that kwaito element; it’s got that piano thing, but very, very subtle with nice chords. You can hear it’s driven by the bassline. And then, from there I just gave it to Niniola. The African queen of house just took it away. For me, that’s what I call the definition of what African music should be. My definition of the new sound of Africa.”
“Fofa” (feat. King Monada) “I’ve always been a fan of King Monada’s songwriting and how he expresses himself lyrically. I decided, let’s talk about this man who’s been working hard, and then all of a sudden, when he is working hard for this woman, and then this woman eventually gets a job, and then from there, this woman leaves him. So, all of a sudden, the guy sings, ‘I’m back being single.’ I just come in on the vocals, saying, ‘So, what can we do? God must just give me power to keep going.’ Let me just fly away—‘Fofa, Fofa.’ It means flying away. So, let me just fly away with the birds and not worry about what’s happening. Things which you can’t control, you must leave them in the hands of God.”
“Back to the Future” (feat. Spikiri, Professor & Lady Du) “This is where we say, ‘Guys, we need to take it [back to] where we started,’ but this is the future. So, it’s a kwaito track, which features Spikiri from Trompies. And then, also, it’s got Professor. We use this original kwaito sound, the basslines, that organ bass. It’s driven by that. But later, we said, ‘What is the future?’ Then we had to bring in Lady Du—she is the future. We combine the old-school feel and the new-school feel.”
“Keep Hope Alive” (feat. Rethabile, Ntsika Ngxanga & Bongo Beats) “I took my brother into hospital; we both had COVID. So, I did my days, but he remained in hospital for a long time. And after a month, he didn’t make it. That’s when the idea of Keep Hope Alive actually came in, the theme of the album. That’s when I started seeing all these things: me taking him to hospital, and my sister now—she’s lonely. He’s left kids and all that stuff. So, the track is to say that it’s going to be OK, you know? We just have to keep the hope alive.”