Famo (music)

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Famo is a music style in Lesotho that originated in South Africa . Up to the present day it is partly associated with criminal milieus.

description

Famo songs are accompanied by an accordion ( koriana ) and drum ( moropa ), and sometimes also an electric bass . The lyrics are mostly about urban life. Famo is mostly sung by men, but also by women who enrich the singing with ululations . Most of the time, the pieces are introduced by an accordion solo that transitions into ostinate melodies, which are usually in minor keys . Singing and instrumental accompaniment alternate and are supplemented in many songs by fast spoken chants . The musicians wear traditional clothing, mostly blankets and sticks.

The word famo comes from ho re famo, Sesotho for "throw up the skirts" and refers to the dance style of women at Famo.

history

In the 1920s, migrant workers from Basutoland developed the Famo style in South Africa, where they worked as miners or formed gangs, including the marashea ("Russians"). They met in their free time in the illegal shebeens . Women danced to the music in provocatively short skirts, sometimes showing their genitals. Recordings made the music popular in Basutoland, later Lesotho, to this day. The concertina , which was introduced from Germany, was initially used as an accompanying instrument . In the early 1960s it was replaced by the accordion.

The Famo singer and Shebeen owner Alinah "Malitsepe" Tsekoa was invited to record recordings in South Africa in 1960 and became known in Basutoland. A well-known band from the 1980s was Tau ea Matsekha, with Forere Motloheloa on accordion and Apollo Ntabanyane as singer and composer, among others. In 1985 they accompanied the American Paul Simon on the opening track of his Graceland album , The Boy In a Bubble.

Tau ea Linare with Mahosana Akaphamong was another popular band in the 1980s. Puseletso Seema became known as a Famo singer. Khosi Mosotho Chakela (civil: Rethabile Mokete) has been releasing Famo albums since 1999.

Numerous Famo musicians fell victim to rivalries between two gangs from 2009 onwards. There were around 100 violent deaths among musicians and their supporters within two years. The two Famo gangs from Mafeteng are associated with the political parties All Basotho Convention and Lesotho Congress for Democracy , which formed a coalition government in 2012. In the same year, the two gangs signed a peace agreement, but it was broken.

In 2015, Lesotho's Minister of Tourism, Environment and Culture spoke out in favor of a temporary ban on recording and broadcasting Famo, after another five people from the Famo scene had been killed within a few days. In 2016 and 2019, more Famo musicians were killed. In 2020, an arrest warrant was issued against Khosi Mosotho Chakela, who lives in South Africa, for possible complicity in the Lipolelo Thabane murder case . The separated wife of Prime Minister-designate Thomas Thabane was shot dead.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Laurie Levin: The Drumcafé's Traditional Music of South Africa. Jacana Media, Johannesburg 2005, ISBN 1-77009-046-0 , pp. 136-137. Digitized .
  2. ↑ David Coplan: In the time of cannibals: The word music of South Africa's Basotho. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1884, ISBN 0-226-11574-7 , p. 186. Digitized .
  3. ↑ David Coplan: In the time of cannibals: The word music of South Africa's Basotho. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1884, ISBN 0-226-11574-7 , p. 188. Digitized .
  4. ^ Dan Michael Worrall: The Anglo-German concertina: A social history. Volume 2. Dan Michael Worrall, 2009, ISBN 978-0-9825996-1-7 36. Digitalisat
  5. ↑ David Coplan: In the time of cannibals: The word music of South Africa's Basotho. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1884, ISBN 0-226-11574-7 , p. 195. Digitized .
  6. ↑ David Coplan: In the time of cannibals: The word music of South Africa's Basotho. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1884, ISBN 0-226-11574-7 , p. 193. Digitized .
  7. ↑ The Boy in the Bubble at Songfacts.com (English), accessed August 24, 2019.
  8. ^ Accordion cowboys. ( Memento from February 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) citypress.co.za from January 30, 2014 (English)
  9. ^ Famo man jailed for plotting to kill rival. Sunday Express, August 10, 2013, accessed on September 11, 2014
  10. ↑ Government cracks down on famo. lestimes.com from October 15, 2015 (English), accessed October 15, 2015
  11. ↑ Famo musician gunned down. lestimes.com of November 18, 2016, accessed November 18, 2016
  12. ↑ Limpho Sello: Seakhi musician shot dead. Lesotho Times, February 19, 2019, accessed March 30, 2019
  13. ↑ Nthakoana Ngatane: Lesotho musician, 2 others implicated in murder of Lipolelo Thabane. ewn.co.za on March 5, 2020, accessed on March 6, 2020