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It feels like every week we see the birth of a new star or sensation in South Africa. Some relatively unknown artist blows up overnight and we instantly proclaim their stardom.
The internet is largely to blame for this as music and art in general are now consumed easily and rapidly, and on a plethora of platforms. As South African audiences we simply enjoy the vibes of the music and hand out household-name status with generous liberty.
It’s amazing how the web has helped shine a light on new talent, but are we being hasty with our praise? I remember a time when a hit single was just that – a track that provided an artist with the nation’s attention. Every now and then we’d demand a follow-up – a well-rounded album or EP. These days it doesn’t matter.
Last year the world lost their minds over Master KG and Noncebo’s Jerusalema, which owed its success to social media dance challenges and propelled the producer to dizzying heights and international acclaim.
Some of us weren’t fooled by the generic sounding song, however, and he played right into this with the astoundingly poorly crafted follow-up, Shine Your Light, which featured Akon and David Guetta.
Where’s the staying power?
A few months ago, we were all raving about singer and songwriter Tyla’s breakout moment with her debut single Getting Late.
She too was called a sensation, but her second song, Overdue, fell rather flat.
Uncle Vinny is apparently one of the best amapiano dancers in the country, which is also just gas. That dude can’t dance but he only needed 30-second bursts of choreography on TikTok to fool the masses.
READ: Uncle Vinny's adolescent arrogance
We have another Uncle out there who popped up overnight and is also apparently a sensation.
DJ Uncle Waffles gained the praises of lovers of amapiano after dancing to Young Stunna's Kabza De Small produced-Adiwele. In three days she went from 9 600 Instagram followers to 90 000.
The song is really cool but she’s a sensation… based on dancing to someone else’s song?
I’ll need to see more. A few weeks ago, amapiano vocalist Babalwa M found herself in a similar position but at least she armed herself with a full-length album; a body of work that helped showcase more of her vocation.
READ: Elaine is a homegrown global phenomenon
Singer Elaine shocked the country when she was signed to Columbia Records, but it took her releasing one of the best debut R&B EPs this country has seen in years.
It’s great to rejoice because of new sounds and artists, but we need to slow things down for the sake of our art and artists. How can one song make a person a sensation? Musicians from our golden age, such as the great Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba, had entire catalogues that live as immortal testimonials to how great they are.
You think footballer Lionel Messi would be considered the legend he was today if he’d only scored one remarkable goal a season?
Oh, you went platinum/ Yeah that’s nice/ Now let me see you do the same thing twice – profound bars from one of the greatest rappers of all time, Nas, illustrates the need for an artist to prove themselves. At least, it used to..
It used to be somewhat shameful to be considered a one-hit wonder. Now we tolerate and even laud this. We marvel at how quickly a talent occupies centre stage – many of you thought Queen Sono was a classic. Last time I checked, a series had to reach eight seasons, at least, to even be considered a classic.
We have an incredible wealth of talent in this country but, as their audience, we are failing them in providing genuine support and elevating our expectations of greatness. We must be careful not to let our rising talent down because we are too quick to hand them star status. Rapper AKA has been subliminally and almost jokingly preaching this in interviews promoting his collaborative album with the young Costa Titch. He often scoffed that these youngsters haven’t really earned their stripes before being anointed stars.
Most recently broadcaster and socialite Anele Zondo, better known as Ney The Bae, unveiled her first attempt at rapping and was instantly named the saviour of local hip-hop. It took her all of a week and a few social media posts.
Doesn’t make it true, though. We will keep a close eye on some of these social media sensations, and we can only hope they grow to shed the façade of digital fame and achieve genuine stardom and staying power.
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